ARAB AND WORLD
Mon 24 Apr 2023 8:21 pm - Jerusalem Time
Biden says ‘yes’ to re-election
After months of anticipation, US President Joe Biden is expected to officially announce his candidacy for a second term on Tuesday, dispelling concerns expressed about his age.
Neither the White House nor the Democratic Party has officially confirmed this, but the 80-year-old president's candidacy is no longer a secret. If re-elected, Biden will end his second term at the age of 86.
Several reliable media outlets expected this announcement to take place on Tuesday via video.
However, these rumors, which are circulating in all of Washington , must be dealt with with caution, because the Biden camp has hinted several times that an announcement in this regard is imminent, but without this matter being realized.
However, Tuesday's date will not be a coincidence, as April 25 will be exactly the fourth anniversary of Joe Biden's entry into the campaign, at the end of which Democrat Donald Trump was denied a second term.
Announcing the candidacy again on this date, at a time when Americans may witness the same competition that took place in 2020, will carry strong symbolism.
There is no campaign event currently on Biden's agenda for the day. But the president is supposed to speak before a union to present his vision of what will surely be one of the main tenets of his election campaign: his desire to restore the "forgotten" people's "dignity" that Donald Trump knew how to court.
Biden believes that the statistics are on his side, as American presidents generally run and are often re-elected.
But the 80-year-old president defies historical precedent.
In November 2021 and February 2023, the President underwent medical examinations, which concluded that he was in “good health.”
Of course, he shows extraordinary resilience, from international crises to major reforms.
But a Democrat, who is prone to lapses and whose age is evident on his face, should expect mounting Republican attacks on his mental capacity.
Joe Biden took note, according to the polls, that the candidacy of his predecessor Donald Trump (76 years), who was charged by a court in New York, no longer aroused enthusiasm either.
The Democrat thus considers that if he once defeated his Republican predecessor, the divisive figure, he can do so again by projecting his character as a good man and his unifying platform.
There remains an unknown factor: What will Joe Biden's chances be if he faces a younger opponent or competition in November 2024?
Florida Governor Ron DeStantis, the 44-year-old far-right figure, is being circulated heavily. He has not announced his candidacy yet.
This will be the fourth presidential race for Joe Biden, if he officially announces his candidacy. Before he was elected in 2020, he ran for the 1998 and 2008 elections, and each time I suffered a severe defeat. And in 2015, Biden, who was vice president at the time, and was deeply affected by the death of his eldest son, declined to run to succeed Barack Obama.
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Biden says ‘yes’ to re-election