President ‘thinks he’s the only one who can beat Trump’, a source tells the Hill, as Trump is readying his own third run
According to theHill, Joe Biden has informed Barack Obama that he will run for re-election in 2024.
Two anonymous sources were cited by the website. One was quoted as saying Biden “wants to run and he’s clearly letting everyone know”.
It was unclear when Biden informed Obama of his plans. Obama, on the other hand, paid a visit to the White House earlier this month to celebrate the Affordable Care Act.
In introducing his host, Obama referred to him as “Vice President Joe Biden.”
“That was a joke,” he said, to laughter.
From 2009 to 2017, Biden served as Obama’s vice president. He defeated Donald Trump in his third presidential bid in 2020 (after short-lived campaigns in 1988 and 2008).
Biden was the oldest president ever to be inaugurated, at the age of 78. If he were to win again, he would be 82 years old at the start of his second term.
Biden’s approval ratings have plummeted amid competing crises ranging from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the coronavirus and rampant inflation at home. Republicans are expected to retake Congress in November, according to most observers. However, the president has made it perfectly clear that he plans to run for re-election.
It was widely reported in September that Biden and his aides had informed allies that he intended to run again. Biden stated in December that he would run if he remained in good health. He has also stated that his vice president, Kamala Harris, will be on the ticket again.
In an interview with ABC News in December, Biden stated that another Trump candidacy would “increase the prospect of running.”
In Brussels in March, Biden referred to Trump again when he said: “In the next election, I’d be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me.”
Trump, 75, is preparing to run for president for the third time.
One of the sources who spoke to the Hill said Biden “thinks he’s the only one who can beat Trump. I don’t think he thinks there’s anyone in the Democratic party who can beat Trump and that’s the biggest factor.”
In 2020, Biden rushed to victory in the Democratic primary, buoyed by Black voter support – and a growing sense that he was the party’s best hope of defeating Trump.
According to books and news reports about the 2020 campaign, Obama doubted Biden’s ability to win.
Edward-Isaac Dovere, author of Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats’ Campaigns to Defeat Trump, reports: “Obama was doubtful about [Biden’s] prospects. He didn’t think Biden could be a disciplined enough candidate.”
Dovere also claims that Obama questioned Biden’s stamina for the race, questioned whether he possessed the necessary “swagger” for an American president, and was concerned that his vice-president had “trouble… connecting with crowds.”
However, Dovere quotes Jen Psaki, now Biden’s White House press secretary, as saying that Obama “undervalued Biden’s political abilities because they had such different styles”.
