President Joe Biden is reportedly planning to announce his re-election campaign for president shortly after the 2022 midterm elections, multiple aides and allies told Bloomberg News.
Members of the president’s inner circle say that he is considering doing so amid a series of legislative victories by Democrats, as well as wanting to deny former president Donald Trump another term.
“The president has said he’s planning on running again,” Anita Dunn, who works in the Biden administration, told Bloomberg. “People should take him at his word.”
This comes amid polling that shows many Democrats want Democrats to nominate someone other than Mr Biden. Some House Democrats such as Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York, as well as Representatives Angie Craig Dean Phillips of Minnesota have said they either do not believe Mr Biden would run again or that they would support someone else.
But Mr Biden’s allies say that he has grown alarmed by revelations about Mr Trump’s role in the January 6 riot at the Capitol last year.
“He thought he was the only person who could beat Donald Trump when Trump ran for re-election, and he was right,” Cedric Richmond, a former congressman who worked in the Biden administration and now works for the Democratic National Committee, told Bloomberg. “It is clear-cut that he’s our best candidate.”
Mr Richmond also called questions about Mr Biden’s age or popularity “annoying and distracting.”
Mr Biden has reportedly stepped up his outreach to donors and attempted to reinforce ties with labor unions. During a meeting with Democratic activists, Mr Biden said that the threat to democracy “hasn’t diminished; if anything it’s grown.”
