Joe Biden Calls Malarkey On Report Casting Doubt On 2024 Run
Joe Biden, the third-oldest candidate in the 2020 presidential race, has faced questions for months over whether he would limit himself to serving one term in the White House if elected. With varying force, he has denied any such intention.
According to a Wednesday morning Politico report, however, the 77-year-old former vice president has “revived” the one-term debate among his closest advisers and is signaling that he would “almost certainly” not run again in 2024.
“If Biden is elected, he’s going to be 82 years old in four years,” an unnamed adviser told Politico, “and he won’t be running for reelection.”
But the candidate himself said Wednesday that the report was pure malarkey.
“I don’t have any plans on one term,” Biden told ABC News when asked about the Politico report, which he called “just not true.”
Kate Bedingfield, a Biden deputy campaign manager, chimed in over Twitter to deny it, as well.
“Lots of chatter out there on this so just want to be crystal clear: this is not a conversation our campaign is having and not something VP Biden is thinking about,” Bedingfield wrote.
Biden has appeared less certain in the past. In an October interview with Associated Press reporter Meg Kinnard, he seemed to be considering the possibility of a one-term presidency.
“I feel good and all I can say is, watch me, you’ll see,” Biden said at the time. “It doesn’t mean I would run a second term. I’m not going to make that judgment at this moment.”
Age has cropped up repeatedly in the 2020 race as a raft of candidates vie for the Democratic nomination to challenge 73-year-old President Donald Trump.
The oldest candidate, 78-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), also refuses to say he would limit himself to one term ― even after his recent heart attack.
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg at 77 is second-oldest ― born the same year as Biden, 1942, but several months older than him. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is 70.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
