President Joe Biden is looking at formally launching his reelection campaign as early as next week, setting up a potential rematch with Donald Trump.
Biden’s aides have planned for the possibility of making a video announcement to coincide with the anniversary of his previous campaign launch, according to people familiar. The plans aren’t finalized and could change, they said.
The Washington Post earlier reported the development. The White House declined to comment.
Biden has long signaled he intends to seek a second term next year, making it something of an open secret while holding open the possibility that circumstances could change. Still, it’s been readily apparent for months, and he said last week he’d made his “calculus” already.
“I’ve already made that calculus, we’ll announce it relatively soon,” Biden said of his 2024 plans, speaking to reporters before leaving Ireland. “The trip here just reinforced my sense of optimism about what can be done.”
Biden, at age 80, is already the oldest US president and would be 86 at the end of a second term. He has downplayed questions about his age and implored supporters to look at his record. He’s teased the makings of a reelection slogan by peppering speeches with a call to “finish the job.”
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The president has effectively cleared the field of significant challengers within his party, after a better-than-expected midterm election result quieted calls for him to step aside.
The indictment of Trump, meanwhile, has rallied Republican voters around the man who Biden ousted in 2020. His foremost expected challenger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, is widely expected to mount a challenge, with Biden’s White House has ratcheted up its critiques of the governor in recent months.
