Joe Biden Says That He Plans to Run for Re-Election in 2024 but Shrugs Off Possibility of Facing Trump
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Getty President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden confirmed Thursday that he plans to run for re-election in 2024, with Vice President Kamala Harris on the ticket alongside him.
Biden commented on his future during his first formal press conference since entering the White House.
CBS News' Nancy Cordes asked him about his own re-election plans, noting that "by this time" in the last administration, Donald Trump's campaign was well underway.
"My predecessor," Biden said, laughing and shaking his head. "God, I miss him."
"The answer is yes, my plan is to run for re-election. That's my expectation," the president told Cordes.
Asked again in the press conference about 2024, Biden made clear that it was his plan not his certainty.
"I said that is my expectation," he said.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked if he expects Harris to join him on the 2024 ticket, to which he responded, "I would fully expect that to be the case."
ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images From left: Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden
Does he think he would face Trump, who has teased a possible bid?
"I have no idea," Biden said, peppering in characteristic "c'mons."
Since he launched his successful presidential campaign in April 2019, there has been much discussion about Biden's longterm political goals in the final act of his decades-long career.
At 78, Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history (Trump is the second-oldest) and he would be 82 at his second inauguration.
Former President Jimmy Carter, the oldest living president at 96, said in 2019 that he supported an age limit for those in the White House but he didn't mention anyone by name. "If I were just 80 years old, if I was 15 years younger, I don't believe I could undertake the duties I experienced when I was president," he said in September 2019.
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During the last campaign, Trump and his conservative allies routinely mocked Biden's age and stamina, openly suggesting he was in cognitive decline.
Trump, in turn, furiously defended himself from scrutiny after a few of his own episodes, including walking down a ramp at West Point.
Biden waved off the attacks.
"Look, all you got to do is watch me," he said last July. "I can hardly wait to compare my cognitive capability to the cognitive capability of the man I'm running against."
