President Biden, who at 80 is already the oldest president in U.S. history, said Wednesday that he “took a hard look” at that issue before deciding to seek another term and that he would respect voters for doing the same as they evaluate candidates on the 2024 ballot.
Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, said that his age doesn’t “register” with him.
“I can’t even say, I guess, how old I am. I can’t even say the number,” he told reporters in the Rose Garden at the White House.
Voters, he said, are “going to see a race, and they’re going to judge whether or not I have it or don’t have it,” Biden said. “I respect them taking a hard look at it. I took a hard look at it as well. I took a hard look at it before I decided to run.”
Biden, who made his 2024 bid official on Tuesday, pushed back on the suggestion by some that he would not have run for reelection if Trump, who announced in November, hadn’t entered the race.
“Yeah, I think I still would be running” if Trump were not, Biden said.
Asked if he thinks he is the only Democrat who can beat Trump in 2024, Biden said, “I may not be the only one, but I know him well, and I know the danger he presents to our democracy.”
“We’ve been down this road before,” Biden added, referring to the 76-year-old Republican.
Biden also sought to downplay his job approval numbers, which have hovered around 40 percent, saying others who sought reelection have “been in the same position” at this point in their presidencies.
While hardly strong, Biden’s numbers are also influenced by the deeply polarized nature of U.S. politics. In the 2024 general election, he could wind up facing Trump, who never got high marks on job approval.
Trump’s job approval was roughly the same as Biden’s when he launched his reelection bid in 2019. Other presidents, including George H.W. Bush, enjoyed higher job approval numbers at equivalent points in their presidencies only to lose their reelection bids.
