President Biden officially announced his bid for reelection Tuesday morning, saying in a solemn launch video that he wanted to “finish the job” he started when the country was racked by a deadly pandemic, a reeling economy and a teetering democracy.
Claiming that his presidency has pulled the country back from the brink on all those fronts, Biden underlined his ambition to turn what he had once pitched as a transitional presidency into something far more transformational.
“The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer,” Biden said in the video. “I know what I want the answer to be. This is not a time to be complacent. That’s why I’m running for reelection.”
Washington Post reports that for Biden, 80, the announcement marks a pivotal moment in a political career that has spanned a half-century. The decision may defy the wishes of some Democratic voters clamoring for a different standard-bearer — one who is younger, more progressive and more reflective of the party’s diversity — while also underscoring Biden’s strength among party leaders, including those who believe he has the best chance of defeating Donald Trump or another Republican.
The 2024 race is expected to be the final campaign of a figure who has run seven races for the U.S. Senate and sought the presidency or vice presidency four times. It will shape the legacy of a man who rose from a county council in Delaware to become one of the youngest U.S. senators in history, a partner to the country’s first Black president — and ultimately the 46th president as a pandemic swept the country.
Biden’s announcement moves the United States one step closer to a likely tumultuous 2024 presidential campaign, as former president Donald Trump pushes for a rematch with Biden after more than two years of falsely claiming that he was the true winner in 2020. Trump has already announced his own candidacy and begun exchanging barbs with other Republican hopefuls.
As for Biden, polls suggest that few Democrats are enthusiastic about the notion of his running again, but many believe he may be their best bet for keeping the White House.
Even with Tuesday’s announcement, Biden is expected to hold few explicitly campaign-style events in the near future, as his aides hope that he can remain above the political fray during a hard-fought GOP primary. But he may face rocky political terrain in the coming months as he heads into a bitter fight with Republicans over the government’s debt limit, the Justice Department wraps up a criminal investigation of his son Hunter and the president himself confronts a probe into the classified documents found among his personal belongings.
Biden also has not run a robust national campaign in years, since much of his campaigning in 2020 was curtailed by the covid pandemic, which sharply limited his travel and appearances with crowds.
Republicans are already comparing Biden to former president Jimmy Carter, who was ousted after one term amid high inflation, global turbulence and a sense of economic trepidation. Biden’s allies, in contrast, have tried to characterize him as the most effective president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, citing Biden’s success in pushing through legislation on climate change, economic relief, prescription drugs, infrastructure and other matters, as well as his ability to rally a global coalition against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Despite these accomplishments, polls suggest Biden could face a tough battle in his bid for a second term. Most Americans say the country is on the wrong track and few believe their fortunes have improved during his presidency. Biden’s aides and allies contend that those numbers will improve as Americans begin to see his policies being implemented, with factories opening and drug prices falling, but Republicans argue that they reflect his failure to improve the economy or reduce crime.
The president could benefit from contrasting his approach with a Republican field that has been remade in Trump’s combative image, said Biden aides, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy.
“Every generation of Americans has faced a moment when they’ve had to defend democracy, stand up for our personal freedoms, and stand up for our right to vote and our civil rights,” Biden said in his launch video, which began with scenes from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. “This is ours. Let’s finish the job.”
Biden’s central campaign themes have been on display for months as he has traveled the country touting his economic accomplishments and blasting the Republicans who took control of the House in January. They often amount to an argument that he gets things done for ordinary Americans, while “MAGA Republicans” are extremists who veer toward authoritarianism.
“President Biden inherited the deepest crises in generations, and he turned them around to deliver unprecedented job growth, the biggest infrastructure investments in 70 years, Medicare’s new power to negotiate lower drug costs, and the biggest manufacturing resurgence in modern history,” said White House spokesman Andrew Bates.
In an immediate example of the split screen that Democrats hope plays in their favor, Tuesday marks the beginning of Trump’s civil trial for rape and defamation allegations. If Trump emerges as the Republican nominee, he may find himself appearing as a defendant in several criminal trials as well while campaigning for president.
Even before his announcement, Biden’s events have resembled modest campaign events, with union workers in bright-colored vests forming a blue-collar backdrop. His speeches typically include recitations of the positive economic data points of his presidency — record job growth, expanded manufacturing and new small businesses — as well as populist messaging about the futility of trickle-down economics.
