Decide if he will run for re-election in 2024

Joe Biden will spend Tet with his family in the US Virgin Islands.

Washington:

President Joe Biden will depart Tuesday for the U.S. Virgin Islands, trading a deadly snowstorm for a Caribbean vacation — and a tentative New Year’s resolution seeking an election. re-elected in 2024.

He criticized the early morning Fox News host for “getting ready to have a good time” while Americans battled the blizzard.

Still, Biden heads to the island of St Croix with a successful 2022 behind him and motivates him to declare, at an unprecedented age of 80, that he wants four more years in the White House.

If nothing else, a weekday in the sun would be a welcome break for a president whose first two years in office have been through an astonishing series of crises – most of which have been inherited when he came to power at the age of 78 was already a record.

The first half of his term saw the peak and decline of the Covid pandemic, a humiliating retreat from the two-decade-long Afghanistan war, 40-year high inflation, and the continuing setback from the effort. force to overthrow the United States of the Republican predecessor Donald Trump. democracy.

The Democratic Party’s planned New Year’s Eve trip to Puerto Rico last December was canceled at the last minute because of the rise of Covid Omicron.

Today, however, Biden is ready to go to the beach.

At home, his party won a string of legislative victories in 2022, culminating in a bill to protect same-sex marriage in December. Once gas prices skyrocketed — the line item that caused the biggest damage. politically in any inflation spreadsheet — almost back to normal.

Abroad, Biden is flourishing, leading a Western coalition supporting Ukraine’s war against Russia, while aggressively pushing to renew the United States’ commitment to its Asian allies. face China.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are confused as they prepare to take over the House in January, and Trump, still the dominant leader of the party, faces numerous legal threats. .

No wonder Biden cheered the holiday in a commentary published by Yahoo News just before Christmas.

“As we look back to 2022 – and towards what lies ahead – I have never been more confident in what the American people and the American economy can achieve,” he wrote.

– Age question –

White House incumbents almost always run for re-election — and often win.

Only three presidents who have served a full first term have decided to resign without doing so a second time. Trump is on the shortlist of presidents who have lost their re-election bid.

However, precedent is out of the question when it comes to Biden’s age.

He will be 82 at his second inauguration and 86 when he leaves office – nearly a decade older than the previous record holder for old age in the White House, Ronald Reagan, who finished his second term in office. age 77.

Whether the issue of age is a matter of debate, often brutal.

Republicans try to portray Biden as old. They point to his stumbles in words, his shuffling gait, and moments when he appears confused or forgetful.

Supporters say Biden, whose stuttering and stuttering has been a hallmark of his career, shows on a daily basis that he is commanding complex work and that many of his qualities are on display. is evident when he is not on camera at important White House meetings.

Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s physician, concluded in his annual report a year ago that aside from the relatively minor signs of old age, the president is in excellent health and “well enough to perform succeed in the duties of the president.”

A new physical is expected to be completed shortly and O’Connor’s new assessment will be scrutinized.

As for Biden, he wants Americans to judge him based on his results, effectively saying age is just a number. “Watch me,” he liked to say.

The decision to run will launch an all-out battle, likely to end in a rematch with Trump, who has declared a campaign of his own. If Biden steps aside, Vice President Kamala Harris would be the obvious replacement on the ticket, but she could face challengers, potentially causing internal turmoil within the Democratic party. .

Whatever is decided in the Caribbean will initially remain a well-kept secret. However, Chief of Staff Ron Klain said it was only a matter of time before the announcement was made.

“I hope the president makes that decision right after the holidays,” Klain said this month. “I hope the decision will be taken.”

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)