Half Of Americans Don’t Think Biden Will Run In 2024: WSJ Poll

A new Wall Street Journal poll found that roughly half of Americans don’t think President Biden will seek re-election in 2024, as the country’s oldest president grapples with runaway inflation, the remains of the pandemic, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to the poll, 52% of Americans don’t think Biden will run for re-election, while 29% do, and 19% are undecided. Among Democrats, 41% said they think he’ll run again, 32% said they don’t think he will, and 26% were unsure.

“…interviews conducted in recent weeks with dozens of voters, activists and local officials in the nation’s top battleground states, along with poll respondents, found a degree of ambivalence and uncertainty over whether Mr. Biden, who is 79 years old, should seek another term. The interviews also showed a lack of consensus on who should succeed him as the party’s standard-bearer should he retire from politics. -WSJ”

Biden and the White House say he’s running – however people close to the president have suggested he’ll wait until after November’s midterm elections to make a final decision.

“You can run for president at 35. I don’t know why we would need the president to be over 75,” said 20-year-old student Katie Smith, who attended a University of Wisconsin Biden speech on campus earlier his month, and is unsure whether he should seek another term.

Georgia Democratic state legislator Derrick Jackson says he doesn’t think Biden will run, “not simply because of his age, but he’s been doing this for a very long time. You can hear it in his voice. You don’t hear the same level of energy and enthusiasm.”

According to Jackson, Biden will attempt to position Vice President Kamala ‘inappropriate laughter‘ Harris as his successor.

“We prefer to fight for a candidate that we know is going to have the enthusiasm, the vigor and the political chops to really fight for those things that are right. And President Biden is exhausted,” he added.

Those polled who thought Biden should seek reelection cited his ‘capable handling’ of issues such as the pandemic and job creation, as well as how he slapped sanctions on Russia after the Ukraine invasion.

“We’re not electing a marathon runner,” said Georgia state legislator Al Williams, who would love to see Biden run again. “He’s still Joe Biden whose heart is in the right place.”

Should he run again, and win, Biden will be 82-years-old when he is sworn in to a second term.

One anonymous Democratic lawmaker told the Journal that during Biden’s State of the Union, Democrats were nervous over whether he would make mistakes.

“Everybody was very pleasantly surprised with the State of the Union address and breathed a sigh of relief when it was over,” they said.

According to Biden’s longtime doctor, Kevin O’Connor, the president “remains fit for duty” despite his gait having noticeably stiffened due to age, and being on medication for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, high cholesterol, gastroesophageal reflux and seasonal allergies.

A Biden adviser said the president has told people he plans to run. The Biden political team is also investing in battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Nevada—all important to this year’s midterm elections, but also to the 2024 presidential race. -WSJ

When it comes to Trump, 49% of those polled expected Trump to run for a third time, while 27% said they didn’t think he would. 24% were unsure. Among Republicans, 60% think Trump will run again in 2024 – far more than the percentage of Democrats (41%) who think Biden will run again.