During a press briefing on Air Force One, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that Joe Biden plans to seek re-election in 2024.
While traveling with the president to a pre-Thanksgiving military event at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Nov. 22, a reporter pressed Psaki on Biden’s future plans.
“There were reports that President Biden was telling allies that he is going to run for re-election in 2024. Can you confirm, is he going to run in 2024? Is he telling staff that?” a reporter asked.
“Yes, that’s his intention,” Psaki responded.
Rumors circulated last week that Biden and his close aides told staffers he would seek a second term.
“The only thing I’ve heard him say is he’s planning on running again. And I’m glad he is,” former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) told The Washington Post.
Biden has polled increasingly poorly among voters in recent months.
FiveThirtyEight found his disapproval rating passed his approval rating at the end of August. The change in public opinion, which has only increased in subsequent weeks, coincided with the chaotic withdrawal of America’s military from Afghanistan. Currently, about 52% of voters disapprove of Biden.
Biden was found to be even less popular in a Washington Post/ABC News poll with just a 38% approval rating. About 59% of those surveyed indicated they were concerned that Biden would do too much to increase the size of government in society. The poll also found that 62% of those asked believed the Democratic Party is out of touch with the concerns of its voters. About 58% of respondents shared the same sentiment about the Republican Party.
The Federalist/Susquehanna Poll conducted from Nov. 1 to Nov. 9 found Biden had a 36% approval rating among likely voters. They expressed dissatisfaction with President Biden’s efforts to stop illegal immigration at the Southern border and his job performance regarding improving the economy.
Biden’s mental and physical health have become a major concern for voters. His administration had been vague about the date of the President’s physical.
“On Friday, Biden underwent a physical at Walter Reed Medical Center outside Washington and received a mostly clean bill of health, though his physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor said spinal arthritis contributed to ‘the President’s gait appear[ing] to be perceptibly stiffer and less fluid’ and that his cough while speaking seems to be ‘increasing [in] frequency and severity,’ though it is likely caused only by stomach acid reflux,” per The New York Post.
Biden, who turned 79 over the weekend, is the nation’s oldest president. If he were reelected, he would begin his second term at the age of 82.
Psaki’s statement sets the stage for a much-speculated rematch between Biden and President Donald Trump, who will be 78 if he won his second, non-consecutive term in 2024.
