Joe Biden announces 2024 election bid, sets up possible Trump rematch

In a three-minute-long video, posted on his social media channels on Tuesday morning, US time, Mr Biden framed next year’s election as a battle between supporters of “freedom” and “extremists” who want to curtail it.

“Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. There’s nothing more important, more sacred,” he said.

“That has been the work of my first term, to fight for our democracy, to protect our rights, to make sure that everyone in this country is treated equally and everyone is given a fair shot at making it.

“But you know, around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take on those bedrock freedoms. Cutting social security that you’ve paid for your entire life while cutting taxes for the very wealthy. Dictating what healthcare decisions women can make. Banning books, and telling people who they can love. All while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote.

“When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are. The question we’re facing is whether, in the years ahead, we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer. I know what I want the answer to be, and I think you do too. This is not a time to be complacent.

“That’s why I’m running for re-election. Because I know America. I know we’re good and decent people. I know we’re still a country that believes in honesty, respect, and treating each other with dignity. That we’re a nation that gives hate no safe harbour. We believe everyone is equal, that everyone should be given a fair shot to succeed.

“Every generation of Americans has faced a moment where they have to defend democracy: stand up for our right to freedom, stand up for our right to vote and our civil rights. And this is our moment.

“Let’s finish this job. I know we can.”

An unpopular president

Mr Biden’s announcement is not a surprise – he had repeatedly signalled that he intended to seek re-election – but it does defy murmurs within the Democratic Party that he was too old and unpopular. He is already the oldest president in history, with an approval rating stuck in the low forties.

Mr Biden is unlikely to face a serious challenge for the Democrats’ presidential nomination. At present, the only other declared candidates are the author Marianne Williamson, who ran unsuccessfully four years ago, and anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

On the Republican side, former president Donald Trump announced his candidacy late last year, having lost to Mr Biden as the incumbent in 2020. Polls show him well ahead of every other declared candidate for the Republican nomination, including former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who won re-election to his job in a landslide last November, is widely seen as the most viable challenger to Mr Trump. Both he and former vice president Mike Pence have yet to make a decision.

Another Biden-Trump election would not be a welcome contest for most Americans. Recent polling showed a whopping 70 per cent of the country, including half of Democrats, did not want Mr Biden to run again, while 60 per cent of the population, including a third of Republicans, said the same for Mr Trump.