KEY POINTS
- United States President Joe Biden will seek re-election in 2024.
- He will be joined in his 2024 quest by his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
- Mr Biden's entry into the race follows Donald Trump's announcement in November that he would seek a second term.
President Joe Biden has formally announced his 2024 re-election bid, a decision that will test whether Americans are ready to give the 80-year-old Democrat, already the oldest United States president ever, another four years in office.
Mr Biden made his announcement in a slickly produced video released by his new campaign team, in which he declares it is his job to defend American democracy. It opens with imagery from by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
"When I ran for president four years ago, I said we're in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are," Mr Biden said. "This is not a time to be complacent. That's why I'm running for re-election."
"Let's finish this job. I know we can," he said.
Mr Biden described Republican platforms as threats to American freedom, vowing to fight efforts to limit women's healthcare, cut Social Security and ban books, while blasting "." MAGA is the acronym for the "Make America Great Again" political slogan of Mr Trump, who may well be Mr Biden's Republican opponent in the November 2024 election.
In the two years since he took over from Mr Trump, Mr Biden won Congress’ approval for billions of dollars in federal funds to tackle the and for new infrastructure, and oversaw the lowest levels of unemployment since 1969, although a 40-year high in inflation has marred his economic record.
Mr Biden’s age makes his re-election bid a historic and risky gamble for the Democratic Party, which faces a tough election map to hold the Senate in 2024 and is the minority in the House of Representatives now.
President Joe Biden will be joined in his 2024 quest by his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris. Source: AAP, AP / Patrick Semansky
Doctors declared Mr Biden, who does not drink alcohol and exercises five times a week, "fit for duty" after an . The White House says his record shows that he is mentally sharp enough for the rigors of the job.
Mr Biden will be joined in his 2024 quest by his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Will it be a Biden v Trump contest?
Mr Biden's entry into the race follows that he would seek a second term after losing the 2020 contest to Mr Biden.
Mr Biden, running as an incumbent, is unlikely to face much competition from inside his party. No senior Democrats have shown signs of challenging him and he has compiled a board of rising-star Democrats to advise his campaign, including governors J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.
Potential and declared Republican presidential candidates have begun framing the 2024 election around cutting back government spending amid still-high inflation, restricting abortion, crime in Democratic-run cities, and illegal immigration.
