Joe Biden says ‘yes’ to re-election bid
He’s been asked so many times if he’ll run for president again; whether he’ll seek that second term.
“It’s my intention…” is his stock answer.
But tonight, on the eve of the day he is expected to formally announce, Joe Biden confirmed that intention to Sky News.
“Are you going to run again, sir?” I asked in the Rose Garden as he disappeared into the Oval Office.
“Yes!” he told me.
It’s been the most anticipated announcement in Washington DC.
He seems to have cleared the self-imposed hurdle: his family’s approval.
I’ll admit I was sceptical. I had wondered if First Lady Jill Biden would tell him “enough”. He would, after all, be 82 at the time of re-election and 86 at the end of the next term.
Before all that, he’ll need to ride out the extraordinary intensity of the election cycle. It’s broken candidates half his age.
For Republicans, his age is a central attack point. For Democrats, it’s a genuine concern but it’s an advantage too.
His supporters point to his experience. He has more experience than any other serving politician in the country by virtue, simply, of his age.
Then there is his record. He beat Donald Trump in 2020. It’s possible, even probable, that Trump is his competition given the Republican Party’s addiction to him.
The gamble is that Trump can’t have gained support over the past couple of years given his indictment and everything in between.
So his team hope a re-run would secure Biden’s second term.
But the latest polling tells another story. According to a new NBC poll, just one in four Americans approve of his decision to seek a second term.
