President Joe Biden is set to announce his 2024 reelection campaign as soon as next week, according to those familiar with the discussions said.
Biden’s team had been eyeing the April 25 date, marking four years to the day he announced his run in 2020. The announcement is expected to be a video released to supporters with a formal campaign launch rally in the coming months.
“What I will say is that any announcement or anything that is related to 2024 certainly will not come from here,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday at the daily press briefing.
Biden has long said he plans to run for re-election, repeatedly saying it “was his intention” to seek a second term. At 80 years old, he is the oldest U.S. President in history and would be 86 at the end of a second term. While on a trip in Ireland, he recently acknowledged his age.
“The only thing I bring to this career after my age — as you can see how old I am — is a little bit of wisdom,” the President said in an address to the Irish parliament, the Houses of the Oireachtas.
“I come to the job with more experience than any president in American history, it doesn’t make me better or worse, but it gives me few excuses,” he added.
The news comes amid reports Biden will be meeting with top Democratic donors in Washington next week. The pending announcement is likely to clear the field of any serious challengers to the President for the Democratic nomination.
Only two Democrats have launched what are expected to be long shot bids: self-help author Marianne Williamson and Robert Kennedy Jr., who made headlines with his anti-vaccine stance.
Meanwhile on the Republican side, former President Donald Trump appears to be the frontrunner despite being indicted last a few weeks ago. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley also launched bids.
The Washington Post was the first to report Biden’s re-election plans.
