Biden 2024 news: White House botches question over term length as campaign embraces ‘Dark Brandon’ meme
Democrat posts ‘Let’s Finish the Job’ promo announcing fresh run and attacking GOP populists, warning basic rights are under assault from intolerant conservatives
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Your support makes all the difference.US president Joe Biden has announced his 2024 re-election bid in a new video early on Tuesday morning, exactly four years after he launched his last campaign for the White House.
His “Let’s Finish the Job” promo opens with footage of the events of 6 January 2021 and reaffirms his commitment to fighting for freedom and democracy. It features a pointed attack on “MAGA extremists”, whom Mr Biden warns are hell-bent on cutting social security while offering tax breaks to the wealthy and assaulting abortion rights, LGBT+ values, limiting voting access and banning books.
Mr Biden says “this is our moment” to stand up for the rights of Americans as he urges voters to give him a second term in the White House to “finish the job”.
“Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans,” he says.
“There’s nothing more important, nothing more sacred. That’s 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 that everyone is given a fair shot at making it.”
At 80, Mr Biden is the oldest candidate in American history to ever make a reelection bid.
Following his announcement, the US is now shaping up to see a rematch of the 2020 presidential election, when Mr Biden beat Mr Trump in the Republican’s quest for a second term.
But, based on recent polls, a 2020 rematch does not appear to be what the American people currently want.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had to clarify a response during her briefing on Tuesday after a reporter asked whether Mr Biden would serve a full eight years if re-elected.
“As you know, we take following the law seriously. So I wanted to be sure that I didn't go into 2024 more than is appropriate under the law. But I can confirm that if re-elected, @POTUS would serve all 8 years,” she said.
The Biden campaign, meanwhile, is embracing the “Dark Brandon” memes popularised around key policy victories for the president.
Trump to follow in Biden’s footsteps and visit Ireland
Former US president Donald Trump will visit Ireland next month.
It will come just weeks after his successor Joe Biden took part in a four-day visit to the island of Ireland.
There is speculation the two men who went head to head in the 2020 US presidential election could again be candidates in 2024.
Rebecca Black has the story.
Donald Trump to follow in Joe Biden’s footsteps and visit Ireland next month
Visit by the former US president will come just weeks after his successor took four-day trip to the island of Ireland
Bernie Sanders backs Biden, says he won’t mount 2024 bid
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who had left open the possibilty of running for president if Joe Biden declined to run for reelection, confirmed on Tuesday that he would not compete for the nomination against the incumbent president.
Mr Sanders told the AP that he would “do everything I can to see the president is reelected.”
“The last thing this country needs is a Donald Trump or some other right-wing demagogue who is going to try to undermine American democracy or take away a woman’s right to choose, or not address the crisis of gun violence, or racism, sexism or homophobia,” said the senator. “So, I’m in to do what I can to make sure that the president is reelected.”
Read more:
Sen. Bernie Sanders says he's endorsing Biden for reelection
Leading progressive, Sen. Bernie Sanders, has decided to forgo another presidential bid of his own and instead endorse President Joe Biden’s reelection
GOP uses dystopian AI-generated video to attack Biden as he launches re-election bid
The Republican National Committee has released an ad using AI-generated images to paint a grim future if President Joe Biden were to win a second term.
The video came as Mr Biden announced his bid for a second term for president in the 2024 presidential election. Axios first reported that the video uses AI-generated images of Mr Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris celebrating their re-election.
Eric Garcia has more.
GOP uses dystopian AI-generated video to attack Biden as he launches re-election bid
Joe Biden’s announcement comes amid a crowded GOP field
Kamala Harris paints 2024 as battle against ‘Maga extremists'
Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday offered her own take on what is at stake for Americans as they return to the polls in 2024.
She tweeted Tuesday afternoon: “MAGA extremists want to take away women’s health care decisions, control what books your kids can read in schools, and tell you who you can love. That’s not who we are.”
“As @JoeBiden says, we are in a battle for the soul of this nation. That’s why we’re running for reelection,” said the vice president.
KJP clarifies: Biden will serve all eight years
White House press secretary Karine Jeane-Pierre issued a clarification on Twitter after seeming to laugh off a question and direct a reporter to Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign when asked at Tuesday’s briefing if Mr Biden would serve “all eight years” if he won reelection.
“As you know, we take following the law seriously. So I wanted to be sure that I didn't go into 2024 more than is appropriate under the law. But I can confirm that if re-elected, @POTUS would serve all 8 years,” she wrote.
Most Americans don’t want Trump or Biden to run again, poll finds
According to a recent Hart Research poll commissioned by NBC News, significant majorities of Americans would prefer that both Donald Trump and Joe Biden stand down rather than compete for a second term in the Oval Office.
It’s grim news for both leading candidates as the president launches his reelection bid this week.
Andrew Feinberg reports on the findings.
Most Americans don’t want Trump or Biden to run again, poll finds
President Joe Biden could announce his 2024 reelection campaign this week
These are Joe Biden’s top policy priorities if he wins a second term. But the GOP could stifle his agenda
In his re-election announcement video, Mr Biden mostly refrained from highlighting specific policies he has passed and instead focused on larger themes. At the same time, he has achieved major legislative accomplishments and hopes to pass even more should he earn a second term.
With his campaign now in full swing, let’s take a look at some of the major policy priorities the president will seek to marshall across the finish line if he secures a second term.
Read more:
These are Joe Biden’s priorities if he wins a second term. The GOP could stifle them
From gun control to abortion protections, these are the top policy priorities for Joe Biden in a second term
Biden’s criticism of 63-year-old opponent’s age resurfaces as he launches 2024 bid at 80
Add Senate candidate Joe Biden to the list of people whose comments could be a problem for President Joe Biden as he seeks a second term in the White House.
The 80-year-old Mr Biden is mounting a historic re-election bid that would, if successful, see him once again become the oldest person to ever take a presidential oath of office, beating the record he previously set in 2021.
But as a new investigation from CNN’s KFile unit revealed on Tuesday, the president once attacked a political opponent quite explicitly with the same angle that Mr Biden’s detractors, particularly those in the GOP, both used in 2020 and likely will again in 2024: His age, and mental fortitude.
Read more:
Biden’s past criticism of opponent’s age resurfaces as he launches 2024 bid at 80
US president was oldest to ever take office in 2021
Biden campaign embraces ‘Dark Brandon’ meme
Joe Biden’s campaign is officially leaning in to the “Dark Brandon” meme, which emerged in pro-Biden circles on social media as a sort of response to the “Let’s Go Brandon” joke that conservatives latched on to in the early days of the president’s first term.
The “Dark Brandon” term trended across US Twitter on Tuesday afternoon following Mr Biden’s campaign launch.
Alex Woodward has more for The Independent on how this meme caught fire:
Inside the ‘Dark Brandon’ phenomenon
The fascist ‘Dark MAGA’ aesthetic flourished in fringe online spaces with explicit calls for violence. Liberals embraced Joe Biden’s ironic transformation as a laser-eyed antidote, Alex Woodward reports
Trump unleashes furious attack on Biden full of false claims ahead of president’s 2024 announcement
Donald Trump aggressively attacked President Joe Biden, calling him “the most corrupt president in American history” and making false claims about Mr Biden as he announced his 2024 re-election bid.
Mr Biden officially launched his re-election campaign for president on Tuesday 25 April, calling on Americans to help him “finish the job.”
Just ahead of his announcement on Monday evening, Mr Trump released a lengthy press release making multiple false claims about himself and Mr Biden.
Ariana Baio has the story:
Trump reacts to Biden 2024 announcement by reading his statement from hours earlier
Should the two recieve their respective parties nominations, it would be a repeat of the 2020 presidential election
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