Biden Stands Firm on 2024 Reelection Decision Amid Age Concerns
In New Castle, Delaware, former President Joe Biden confidently affirmed on Friday that he has no regrets about his decision to pursue reelection in 2024. He attributed the absence of challengers within the Democratic Party to their understanding that they would face defeat against him.
Responding to worries from party members about whether he should have stepped aside earlier, Biden dismissed the criticism with a bold stance. "Why didn’t they run against me then?" he questioned reporters. "Because I would’ve beaten them."
Biden officially announced his intention to run again in late April 2023, yet his campaign has been shadowed by growing apprehension regarding his age and capacity to serve effectively for another four years.
He ultimately withdrew from the race on July 21, 2024, just weeks after a tumultuous debate against Donald Trump, the GOP’s presidential candidate. This event heightened concerns about Biden’s age and mental sharpness, as he appeared challenged in articulating responses.
Following Biden’s withdrawal, Vice President Kamala Harris stepped in as the party’s nominee but ultimately lost the election to Trump in November 2024.
Debates over Biden’s cognitive health resurfaced recently after Axios released audio from his interview with special counsel Robert Hur, which focused on classified documents found at his private residence from his vice presidency. This revelation highlighted notable lapses in Biden’s memory. The investigation concluded that, while Biden had "willfully" kept the documents, a jury would likely view him merely as an "elderly man with a poor memory," leading to no charges filed against him.
Additionally, concerns surrounding his mental acuity have been amplified by his reliance on an auto-pen for signing documents during his final weeks in office and a recent prostate cancer diagnosis.
In his remarks on Friday, Biden also criticized a new book titled Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, authored by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson. This work alleged limited awareness among Biden’s senior aides regarding his health issues.
With evident confidence, Biden stated, “You can see that I’m mentally incompetent, I can’t walk — and I can beat the hell out of both of them,” underscoring his determination to counteract narratives questioning his fitness for office. He further insinuated in prior interviews that withdrawing from the race earlier would not have changed the outcome.