President Joe Biden has formally announced his candidacy for the 2024 election.
Rather than a traditional campaign event and a live speech in front of supporters on a stage adorned with bright lights and American flags, Biden opted to make the announcement via a pre-recorded video, created with the style and production reminiscent of former President Barack Obama.
During the video, entitled “Let’s Finish the Job,” the Biden team stuck to broad themes and vagaries, opting not to highlight or address any specific policy choices enacted by his administration, despite having a record to run on and his administration making sweeping changes to the U.S. political landscape over the past two years.
Similar to 2020, he positioned himself as a departure from the chaos that has dogged national politics, a moderate who champions a righteous fight to stand up for regular everyday Americans.
“Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. There’s nothing more important, nothing more sacred,” Biden says as the video opens. “That’s been the work of my first term, to fight for our democracy.”
Added Biden: “This shouldn’t be a red or blue issue. To protect our rights, to make sure that everyone is treated equally. And that everyone is given a fair shot at making it.”
Following the now two-year-old trend of Biden leading other members of the Democratic Party to cast his political opposition as “Extreme MAGA Republicans,” he chose to use images from the riot that took place at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
He also included allegations that Republicans are working to strip freedoms away from Americans, by suggesting right-wing candidates would cut social security, cut taxes only for the very wealthy, and end gay marriage.
Biden made no mention of his border policy, which has resulted in millions more illegal aliens entering the U.S than under his predecessor. He also chose not to address his executive order mandating the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, which has now been struck down by the courts. There was no mention of foreign policy, funding the war in Ukraine, 40-year-high inflation, soaring gas prices, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, or any number of policies that clearly define his first term.
“When I ran for president four years ago, I said ‘we’re in a battle for the soul of America,'” he reminded supporters. “And we still are. The question we’re facing is whether in the years ahead, we have more freedom or less freedom.”
Biden’s announcement comes on the heels of polling data from NBC News, which shows that 70 percent of voters do not want him to seek a second term as president.
Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours.
That’s why I’m running for reelection as President of the United States. Join us. Let’s finish the job. https://t.co/V9Mzpw8Sqy pic.twitter.com/Y4NXR6B8ly
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 25, 2023
