US President Joe Biden has announced that he will seek re-election for the presidency in 2024, with Vice-President Kamala Harris again his running mate
Now 80 and already the oldest president in US history, Biden had long signalled he would run for another four-year term
In a video to launch his bid to retain the White House, he cast the next election as a fight for democracy and personal freedom, saying: “Let’s finish the job”
But the Republicans called Biden “out of touch” for seeking re-election, claiming US citizens were counting down the days until they can send him “packing”
Donald Trump has already launched his bid, meaning the pair could be set for a rematch of the 2020 election in November next year
With Biden’s Democrats performing better than expected in last year’s midterm elections, he is unlikely to face much competition from within his own party
But an NBC News poll recently found that 70 percent of Americans, and just over half of Democrats, believe he should not run again
Addressing his supporters at the North America Building Trades Union (NABTU) in Washington DC, President Biden said, “one of the first things I did was pass the American Rescue Plan, which helped save the nation from the pandemic. We got relief to folks who needed it the most.
“They didn’t think we could do it,” he says to applause. “It worked.”
He turns next to a bipartisan infrastructure bill.
“Under my predecessor, infrastructure week was a punchline,” the president says.
“On my watch, we’re making infrastructure decade a headline.”
He tells the crowd of union members they are the ones completing the more than 25,000 infrastructure projects announced under his tenure.
“Union workers are going to finish the job!” he says, again referencing what is becoming the main slogan for the Biden 2024 campaign.
