The Biden administration has its fair share of problems that it’s either unwilling or unable to fix. Historic inflation, high gas prices, COVID-19, the border crisis, and so on.
But there’s another problem that the White House has no control over. No matter what they do or say, they can’t stave off speculation that Joe Biden isn’t going to run in 2024.
Joe Biden insists he plans to run, but most Americans don’t expect Biden to run for reelection, and nearly two-thirds don’t want him to.
And then there’s the issue of his mental fitness.
“Asked whether Biden is mentally fit, voters are almost evenly split, with 46 percent saying he is and 48 percent disagreeing,” reported Politico in November. “But that negative 2-point margin stands in stark contrast to Biden’s numbers last October when voters believed he was mentally fit by a 21-point margin.”
Between his advanced age, his questionable mental fitness, and his poor performance as president, it’s a safe bet that Joe Biden will ultimately sit out the 2024 election. Privately, Democrats doubt he will run for reelection, and they believe that the only reason the White House is claiming that Biden plans to run is to “avoid weakening his standing.”
But can his standing get any weaker? The media isn’t even trying to cover for him on this question. This week, the New York Times and CNN both speculated who might replace Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket in three years.
Kamala Harris made things worse by telling the Wall Street Journal that she and Biden haven’t discussed 2024.
“I’ll be very honest: I don’t think about it, nor have we talked about it,” she said, prompting the White House to clarify Biden’s plans again.
“I can’t speak to a conversation that the vice president and the president have. I could only say what and reiterate what [Press Secretary Jen Psaki] has said and what the President has said himself: That he is planning to run for reelection in 2024,” Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday.
She also insisted that Harris would be his running mate.
This isn’t the first time the White House has had to assure the public that Biden plans to run for reelection, and you can bet that it won’t be the last. This is a problem for the White House because it’s obvious that no matter how much they say Biden will run again, the overwhelming belief is that he won’t.
New York Times columnist Bret Stephens argues that Biden should announce sooner than later that he isn’t going to run again.
“Right now he’s worse than a lame duck, because potential Democratic successors are prevented from making calls, finding their lanes and appealing for attention,” Stephens explained. “It would put an end to the endless media speculation. It would inject enthusiasm and interest into a listless Democratic Party. It would let him devote himself wholly to addressing the country’s immediate problems without worrying about reelection.”
While I’m not one to give advice to Joe Biden—or any Democrat for that matter—Stephens makes a valid point. This question of Biden and 2024 isn’t going away, and no matter how many times they insist he’s running, the White House can’t get the public to believe it.
