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Joe Biden says he will run for re-election in 2024 if he remains in “good health.”
During an interview with ABC’s David Muir, Biden also said that if Donald Trump runs again, that will increase his chances of seeking a second term in office.
Biden, the oldest person ever to be elected as U.S. president, also claimed “fate” would play a part in his 2024 plans.
“I’m a great respecter of fate. Fate has intervened in my life many, many times. If I’m in the health I’m in now – I’m in good health – then, in fact, I would run again,” Biden said.
Muir followed up by asking Biden if he would run for re-election if it meant taking on Trump again.
“You’re trying to tempt me now. Sure, why would I not run against Donald Trump if he were the nominee? That would increase the prospect of running,” Biden continued.
WATCH:
NOW – Biden to run for reelection in 2024 if he is in "good health."pic.twitter.com/QIVI661JTU
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) December 23, 2021
Donald Trump has not officially announced a 2024 presidential run, but it appears that he may be building a “campaign in waiting.”
According to Politico, Trump insiders have said he’s started the process of considering possible running mates.
“A lot of times, a presidential candidate will pick a running mate to balance out wings of the party. But with Trump, that’s not the issue. He is the party, basically. It’s so united behind him,” said John McLaughlin, one of Trump’s campaign pollsters. “So his choice, if he runs, will come down to what he wants. It would be a much more personal decision this time.”
“They’re all begging me. They all come here,” One adviser, who spoke anonymously with Politico, said Trump told them.
“Once you get past those two issues — loyalty and Trump going more with his gut — Trump has a lot of leeway in who he would pick,” said Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s lead pollster in 2016 and 2020.
“He’s not necessarily looking to balance the ticket geographically, but what he can do is pick to balance gender, race, ethnicity — a lot of different lanes there,” said Fabrizio, who is polling for a Trump-affiliated super PAC. “It could be everything from a Tim Scott in South Carolina to an Asian American in California, somebody Hispanic in Texas. There are so many choices and paths. And there’s lots of time to go.”
“It was a really warm interaction,” said one Republican observer in the room. “Scott was appropriately deferential without being gross, like some people are. What he said was thoughtful, and it was appreciated by the president. There was definitely chemistry there.”
The source also told Politico that Trump may choose a woman running mate, such as Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds or Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
“Reynolds and Blackburn are definitely in the hunt,” the source added.
The majority of Republicans believe that Trump will run in 2024 and he has been giving hints that he is interested.
But he has given what could be his strongest hint yet in showing that he intends to become president again.
He talked with GB News host Nigel Farage at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida where he talked about his love for the United States as the driving factor in his decision.
“Why on earth would [you] consider going into that hell again?” the host said.
“So I love our country,” the 45th President of the United States said. “If you love the country you have no choice. It’s not a question. I brought the country to a level its never seen before, then we had Covid come in, then I brought it back, came up with vaccines that you’re using were all using, the world is using.”
“This is a wonderful, beautiful life,” he said of his life as a private citizen. “But I like that [being president] too because I was helping people. That’s why I did it and I think you’ll be happy in the future too because that’ll be your next question. You’ll be happy.”
In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Trump did not appear to be too concerned with the man many think would be his top rival for the nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“If I faced him, I’d beat him like I would beat everyone else,” he said.
‘I don’t think I will face him,” he said. “I think most people would drop out, I think he would drop out.”
If he is the Republican nominee that could be a nightmare for Biden because recent polls show that Trump defeats him head to head.