President Joe Biden said “Today” show Co-host Al Roker plans to run for a second term on Monday.
“I plan to run, Al, but we’re not ready to announce it yet,” he said.
Biden, 80, continued to state his plans to run for re-election. In a private conversation at the White House last year, the Rev. Al Sharpton said, the civil rights leader told his National Action Network staff in Washington, NBC News reported.
“I’m going to do it again,” Biden said last year as he posed for a photo with Sharpton in the Roosevelt Room, according to a National Action Network official who described the MSNBC host’s explanation. “I’m going.”
Biden’s comments come as top White House advisers prepare to make final decisions about launching his re-election campaign, multiple sources familiar with the discussions told NBC News. A number of considerations in the decision-making process did not emerge as a major democratic challenge; Accused former GOP nominee Donald Trump consumes political spotlight; And a big clash is coming with congressional Republicans over spending.
Despite the lackluster approval ratings, Democratic power brokers have indicated that they are working to shore up Biden’s re-election bid before he officially announces it.
Biden’s comments come ahead of his re-election campaign, which has broken with progressives on some hot-button issues, including crime, immigration policy and the environment. However, Democrats across the party — from progressives and moderates to leadership and rank-and-file members — have said they plan to stick with Biden through 2024.
Biden is the oldest president in US history. If he wins re-election, he will be 86 years old at the end of his second term.
Despite not yet officially announcing his re-election campaign, the 2024 presidential race loomed large in Biden’s State of the Union address in February. He touted his economic achievements and previewed his re-election case to Republicans.
In his speech before a divided Congress, Biden spoke again as Republicans chased him from the House floor and insisted he would not let Republicans “hold the economy hostage” over the debt ceiling. Biden also blasted former President Donald Trump’s “big lie” of widespread election fraud.
However, the president also said the two parties could find common ground after Republicans took control of the House, including addressing national security concerns about China, boosting American manufacturing and regulating powerful tech companies.
