Joe Biden.Photo: AP Photo/Evan Vucci
PresidentJoe Bidensays he is planning to run forreelectionin 2024 but declined to make an official announcement during a candid chat with theTodayshow’sAl Rokerthis morning.
The president andFirst Lady Dr. Jill Bidenwere prepping to host theWhite House Easter Egg Rollwhen the conversation shifted toward the looming election.
“I plan on running Al, but we’re not prepared to announce it yet,” Biden said.
Rokerhad at first asked how many more Easter Egg Rolls the President planned to attend, probing to see if Biden would comment on a commitment to the 2024 election.
“I plan on at least three or four more Easter Egg rolls,” Biden said, adding: “Maybe five. Maybe six, what the hell.”
Bidenfirst announcedhis intention to run for reelectionless than two months after his 2021 inauguration — but more than two years later, the 80-year-old has yet to make a formal announcement.
According to the outlet, the announcement won’t come until at least after the president returns from a visit to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. On Wednesday, theWhite House confirmedthat the president will begin a four-day trip to Northern Ireland and Ireland in Belfast on April 11.
A representative for the White House did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Last month, CBS News asked Biden when he plans to announce his reelection campaign, to which he replied, “When I announce it.”
But now, after repeated pushbacks, it’s thought that the president could wait until early summer, although some think the announcement could even come as late as the fall.
According to CBS News, the president’s closest advisers and other outside consultants say he is in no rush to launch his campaign. Plans to launch in January were said to have been delayed because the president wasn’t ready to make the decisions needed to launch, per CBS News. Other factors for the delay also included thewar in Ukraine, which marked its first anniversary in February, and tensions between the U.S. and China.
Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump.Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty; Chip Somodevilla/Getty
While DeSantis hasn’t officially launched his own campaign, the 44-year-old isn’t expected to announce his run until June, per CBS News.
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Amidst this,Trump’s arraignmenthas also been grabbing headlines. Trump was arraigned on Tuesday on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, following an investigation into an alleged hush money payment he made to adult film starStormy Danielswhile he was a presidential candidate in 2016. Theformer president pleaded not guiltyto the charges.
And despite fellow DemocratMarianne Willamson— a self-help author and Texas native — jumping in the race last month as the first notable Democratic candidate to potentially challenge Biden, the president still very much remains the Democratic front-runner.
This has allowed the president to lay low and focus on policy and governing.
Among those hugely in favor of a Biden reelection campaign — and no doubt eagerly awaiting the launch — is First LadyDr. Jill Biden.
Last month, the 71-year-old said she was “all in” and “all for it” when it comes to her husband running for reelection. Asked if her husband might choose not to run for another term, she told CNN, “Not in my book.”
As well as Williamson, other candidates who have also already officially announced their campaigns include RepublicansVivek RamaswamyandNikki Haleyand former Arkansas GovernorAsa Hutchinson.
source: people.com
