Joe Biden, President of the United States. (AFP)
US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, announced Tuesday that he will run for re-election in 2024, entering a fierce new campaign for the White House at age 80.
Source: AFP
“Each generation has a moment in which it has had to defend democracy. Defend your fundamental freedoms“, says Biden in the video of the announcement, published on the Twitter network.
“I think this is ours. That is why I am running for re-election as President of the United States. Join us. let’s finish the job“he adds.
The piece opens with images of the violent invasion of supporters of former Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021) to the Capitol – seat of Congress – on January 6, 2021 and protests against the abolition of the right to abortion, among others, and shows in addition to Biden together with Vice President Kamala Harris in different situations.
Biden is running for the Democratic Party nomination with no real contenderafter a series of big legislative victories and important international fights in his first years in office.
However, he will have to face questions about his age in the campaign, which could be a repeat of the 2020 elections, when he then faced Donald Trump.
The age of the political veteranwho would be 86 when his second term ends, sows doubt even in his own electoral basewhere many believe he is too old for the job.
The Republican opposition has already questioned his candidacy for the first time, stating that he is “disconnected” from reality.
“Biden is so out of touch with reality that he thinks he deserves four more years in power, when all he does is create one crisis after another,” party boss Ronna McDaniel said after the announcement.
An NBC network poll released over the weekend found that 70% of Americans, including 51% of Democrats, believe Biden should not be running.
– Unified Party –
Faced with these questions, Biden likes to answer “Look at me.” It’s a way of saying that voters should focus on his domestic political victories and his formation of an unprecedented Western alliance to help Ukraine in the face of Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
In the next year and a half, Biden would have the advantage of being in power, with his unified party, while the Republicans are just beginning a complex primary election.
Tuesday’s date was not chosen at random to announce his candidacy. It corresponds to the fourth anniversary of the start of the campaign that gave him the victory against Trump.
The 76-year-old tycoon is also a candidate for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential elections. and he has chances to win them despite having been prosecuted by a New York court for a scandal of bribing a porn actress and being the subject of several judicial investigations.
On Monday, Trump was quick to hurl criticism at the man who derailed his own ambition to run for the White House again.
“With such a calamitous and failed presidency, it is almost inconceivable that Biden would even think about running for re-election,” he said in a statement.
Biden knows that according to the polls, which must be interpreted with caution, Trump’s candidacy is not exciting. But neither is yours.
However, the Democrat is convinced that if he managed to beat him once, he can do it again thanks to his affable personality and unifying agenda.
One big question remains: what would his chances be if he faced a younger rival in November 2024, such as the governor of the state of Florida (southeast), Ron DeSantis, 44?
This rising star of the more conservative American right has not yet filed for office but believes he has a chance of defeating the Democrat.
“I have what it takes to be president and I can beat Biden,” he declared in March.
less known, Republican figure Nikki Haley -former US ambassador to the UN placed by Trump-, who is already in the campaign and calls for the emergence of a “new generation” politics.
Halley calls for, among other things, intellectual capacity tests for all political leaders over the age of 75.
