OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, but a bigger issue looms: When will he formally announce whether or not he will run for re-election in 2024?
During an event over the weekend in front of Democratic officials and activists, Biden hinted to the crowd that a 2024 re-election announcement would likely come in the near future.
“We’re just getting started. I intend to get… more done,” Biden told the crowd in Philadelphia. “As of this month, we’ve created 12 million new jobs. We’ve created more new jobs in two years than any president did in their entire term.”
“The president gets another opportunity to showcase his administration’s accomplishments on Tuesday when he delivers the State of the Union address to a prime-time national audience. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who addressed the audience ahead of the president, gave a taste of the messaging to come as their 2024 efforts will likely get underway,” Fox News reported.
Fox News added in its report:
Biden has said for over a year that he intends to seek a second term in the White House, but he’s yet to make any formal announcements. Last week, the president smiled at a ceremony for outgoing White House chief of staff Ron Klain as the longtime Biden aide said “I look forward to being on your side when you run for president in 2024.”
Sources in the president’s political orbit have told Fox News that any announcement regarding a Biden 2024 campaign would not come until after Tuesday’s address. One big question is when will the 80-year-old Biden — the oldest president in the nation’s history — declare he’s seeking a second term.
Biden's 2024 re-election announcement could come after his State of the Union speech. But how soon? https://t.co/c2isGi3JY1
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 6, 2023
“Democrats had a pretty good year flying the Biden banner over their heads. This is a guy who seems fired up. He seems ready to keep it going and I see no groundswell of opposition within the Democratic Party,” DNC member Mo Elleithee told Fox News.
“I think he has done a fantastic job navigating the treacherous waters of the Democratic coalition. When you are a coalition not everyone is going to be happy all the time. And he’s done a good job of navigating those waters,” Elleithee argued.
“I would expect a similar timeframe for President Biden,” longtime Democratic strategist and communication Chris Moyer, a presidential campaign veteran, said. “I don’t see much difference between announcing in February or April.
Moyer argued that “building a robust war chest and attracting the best campaign talent — two reasons campaigns typically launch early — will not be a problem. He doesn’t face a serious challenge for the nomination, he’s in good standing with Democrats, and he has a strong record on which to run for re-election — historic legislative achievements, inflation coming down, and 12 million jobs created since he took office. The best thing he can do for his forthcoming campaign continues to deliver results for the American people as President.”
The DNC’s Elleithee argued that the date of the announcement is not that consequential.
“Everyone in the political media industrial complex sends far too much time parsing decisions like that. He’s made it pretty clear he intends to run. He’s been out there touting the accomplishments of his administration in a way that sounds like he’s going to run,” Elleithee said. “He’s going to go to the State of the Union and lay out the themes of the campaign that he’s probably going to run on. He’s in. When it’s official — that’s just gravy.”
Republicans are planning to announce a series of investigations in the immediate aftermath of Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night.
Biden is also being dogged by a classified documents scandal.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said on Tuesday that it is likely first son Hunter Biden was “in proximity” of classified documents discovered in the garage of his father’s Wilmington, Del., home recently, and that’s a potential national security issue.
