OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Joe Biden has repeatedly said he plans to run again for president in 2024, but another issue is emerging that could change his mind.
Amid low approval ratings spurred by rampant inflation that has driven up the price of nearly everything Americans buy and need for everyday life, Joe Biden’s political fortunes will now rest on the status of legal issues facing his son, Hunter Biden, according to Puck News reporter Tara Palmeri.
Appearing on the outlet’s “The Powers That Be: Daily” podcast, Palmeri was asked about the odds Joe Biden will run again, which she put at “50-50,” adding that he will “wait for as long as possible” to officially announce.
“If the Democrats lose the Senate and the House, that’ll be really bad,” Palmeri said on Friday’s podcast. “And I could see that there would be a lot of pressure on Biden to announce that he’s not gonna run for reelection. It’s just gonna be a dark time between November, January, February. Like, real dark.”
“Plus, you’re gonna have all these investigations into Hunter Biden. There’s, you know, reports that the Justice Department is looking at indicting him. It’s just gonna be a dark time. It’s not gonna be good for his family,” she added, according to a report from Fox News.
The Puck News correspondent then said that it will be first lady Jill Biden who “ultimately decides” whether or not her husband will run again, Fox News added.
Palmeri went on to say that she believes the outcome of what will be a “brutal midterm” election for the White House and Democrats may become “personal,” as she alluded to Republicans being in a position to retake Congress and “go after his kid.”
“He’s gonna be weakened. And then I think you layer in the personal stuff on top of it. And that is what will be the deciding factor,” Palmeri said. “If it was purely political, I think Joe Biden only knows how to run. That’s all he has been doing his whole life. But I think if he sees — if he thinks that perhaps saying he’s not gonna run for reelection will get the Republicans to drop their terrifying investigation into Hunter.”
“Here’s another thing. What if Hunter’s indicted? How can he run if his son is indicted?” Palmeri added.
Fox News adds:
Hunter Biden has been the subject of multiple federal investigations as the DOJ is looking into whether he violated any tax, money laundering and/or gun laws.
However, the major question Republicans continue to ask is whether President Biden will be implicated in any of the potential charges his son could face.
While Washington insiders are skeptical that Joe Biden’s Justice Department would indict the sitting president’s son, other factors may force Biden to be one and done after his first term, including his age and plunging approval ratings, now in the mid-30s.
Obama adviser David Axelrod appeared on CNN Tuesday with dismal news about Biden’s re-election prospects.
In particular, Axelrod was asked about a recent poll indicating that 75 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters said they do not want Biden to run again in 2024, according to Newsweek.
Responding, the former Obama whisperer said that a “time will come when these numbers have to be accounted for, and he’s going to have to make a decision” on whether he wants to run for reelection.
“I mean, obviously, this is a very unhappy bit of data for him. I’m sure, you know, it is concerning,” Axelrod said.
“But we should point out that he’s got two and a half years before the next election, or a little less than two and a half years, so you can over—you can get overly focused on one number. But there are a series of numbers that are not good for his overall approval rating,” Axelrod added.
A report by CNBC this week claimed that nearly half of all Americans have fallen further in debt in the Biden-Harris era.
“Nearly 40% of consumers cannot put any money at all into savings, according to a recent analysis of household financial health and readiness by the American Consumer Credit Counseling, while about 19% said they had to reduce their savings rate,” the outlet reported.
