President Joe Biden said he intends to seek another term in 2024 but isn’t ready to make a formal announcement.
At the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on April 10, Biden stood next to First Lady Jill Biden for an interview with “TODAY Show” host Al Roker as families frolicked on the White House lawn in the background.
Roker prodded Biden, asking whether he would take part in Easter Egg Rolls after 2024.
“I plan on at least three or four more Easter Egg Rolls. Maybe five? Maybe six?” Biden joked. “I'll either be rolling an egg or being the guy who’s pushing them out.”
Moments later, Biden told Roker: “I plan on running, Al. We’re just not prepared to announce it yet.”
Speculation has mounted about Biden’s 2024 plans since late December 2022, when he traveled to the U.S. Virgin Islands for New Year’s.
Upon his return, he embarked on a nationwide tour touting the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Job Acts that he signed into law in November 2022.
Even after classified documents from his time as vice president were discovered at his Delaware homes earlier this year, following the classified materials that were found at the Washington-based Penn-Biden Center in November 2022, Biden has continued to drop hints that he would run again.
After a meeting with Senate Democrats in early March, Biden was asked by reporters when he would announce his 2024 reelection campaign. He responded, “When I announce it.”
In early March, The Washington Post reported that the president is enlisting a team of high-profile Democratic figures who could emerge as rivals to travel across the country and promote his accomplishments during his first term.
With the objective of unifying the party, Biden has hand-picked a team of governors, senators, and other recognizable Democrats who will deliver speeches and appear in media interviews leading up to his expected announcement to pursue a second term.
Democratic Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Gavin Newsom of California, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan are among the 20 people who have joined the effort, according to the report.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), and Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) are also part of the team.
At a White House event to recognize achievements in the arts and humanities on March 21, Biden offered another indication that he will seek a second term in 2024.
One of the recipients of the 2021 National Humanities Medal was author Colson Whitehead, who received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2017 and 2020, one of only four people to win the honor twice.
In presenting the medal, the president noted that Whitehead won the Pulitzer for back-to-back novels and quipped, “Pretty good, man! I’m kind of looking for back-to-back myself.”
Currently, Biden and his administration are traveling around the country on what the White House calls the “Investing in America” tour, which highlights the infrastructure bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and other legislation that Biden has signed into law.
At 80, Biden is already the oldest president in U.S. history. If he runs and wins in 2024, he would be 86 at the end of his second term.
During its February winter meeting, the Democratic National Committee unanimously passed a resolution declaring its “full and complete support” for a second term for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
No Democrat who currently holds an office has entered the 2024 presidential race.
Last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed paperwork to run for president in 2024.
Kennedy, 69, is the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy.
He is an attorney, the founder of Children’s Health Defense, and a widely known medical freedom and environmental activist.
Kennedy is set to formally announce his 2024 presidential bid in Boston on April 19.
On March 4, self-help author and spiritual adviser Marianne Williamson began her 2024 presidential campaign at Union Station in Washington.
It remains uncertain when Biden will officially declare his 2024 intentions.
“President Biden has been clear that he intends to run, and his focus is on finishing the work he’s doing for American families: continuing to bring manufacturing back from overseas, further cutting the deficit by having rich special interests pay their fair share, and standing up for fundamental rights like the freedom to choose,“ White House spokesman Andrew Bates recently said in a statement. ”There has never been a timeframe for any announcement.”
