President Biden officially launched his bid for reelection in 2024 as expected, with a low-key video on social media.
Using his @JoeBiden account rather than his official @POTUS account on Twitter, Biden wrote, “Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours.”
Then, reiterating a statement he used repeatedly during this year’s State of the Union address, he wrote, “That’s why I’m running for reelection as President of the United States. Join us. Let’s finish the job.”
The timing of the announcement coincides with the four-year anniversary of his announced run in the 2020 Presidential election. The three-minute video, posted at 6am ET, is meant to echo how the Obama-Biden ticket unveiled its reelection bid in 2011, according to Biden advisors.
The three-minute video has one underlying theme throughout: “Freedom.”
The announcement sets the stage for a potential repeat of the 2020 election, as former President Trump announced his bid for reelection back in November.
In fact, Trump reportedly remains a top motivator for Biden who sees the Republican candidate and his “MAGA” platform as an existential threat to the country, as he did when he ran in 2020. The first image in Biden’s campaign video is of the violent insurrection upon the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
In VoiceOver, Biden says “the work of my first term [has been] to fight for our democracy.” Then, amid more images of January 6, he goes on, “But, you know, around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take on those bedrock freedoms.”
He then lists what he believes are the threats to those freedoms, including “cutting social security…dictating what health care decisions women make, banning books, telling people who they can love, all while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote.”
Later in the video he says, “Every generation of Americans has faced a moment when they have to defend democracy. Stand up for our personal freedom. Stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights. And this is our moment.”
The President will not be running for the Democratic bid unopposed. Already anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has tossed his hat into the ring. In a USA Today/Suffolk University poll, 14% of voters who backed President Biden in 2020 said they would support Kennedy in 2024.
Another 5% of those voters polled said they backed self-help author Marianne Williamson, who is running for the Democratic nomination for a second time in as many campaign seasons.
High inflation, a fragile economy and Biden’s lackluster approval rating pose vulnerabilities, Biden aides concede. At 80 years old, his age is also an issue and could put more of a focus on Vice President Harris in this upcoming campaign.
“The question we’re facing is whether in the years ahead, we have more freedom or less freedom,” Biden’s video goes on. “More rights or fewer. I know what I want the answer to be and I think you do, too.”
