Joe Biden is reportedly only seeking on term as president should he win the general election in 2020, a source revealed in an article published Wednesday morning.
‘If Biden is elected, he’s going to be 82 years old in four years and he won’t be running for reelection,’ a prominent adviser to the campaign told Politico.
Four people who regularly talk with Biden, who is 77 and would enter office aged 78 if he wines, said the candidate is focused on quietly indicating that he likely won’t run for a second term – but they claim there is still the option of making a public pledge.
All four individuals claim it is almost 100 per cent inconceivable that he will run for reelection in 2024 should he clinch the presidency in 2020.
The prominent adviser believes making that reality public could help him, especially among younger voters who are not as excited about his candidacy and believe his presidency would become a road-block to younger Democrats.
Revealed: Joe Biden, 77, would not seek reelection in 2024 should be win the White House next year
This would put the future of the Democratic party in the hands of the Cabinet he chooses and his vice president, which he has said could be Senator Kamala Harris (left), who dropped out of the race this month, or Senator Elizabeth Warren (right), who is still a top 2020 contender
At 77-years-old, the former vice president is one of the oldest candidates running in the Democratic primary, tied with late comer candidate Michael Bloomberg and falling in only second place to Bernie Sanders, who is 78.
Donald Trump, who is 73, was already the oldest president to take office, and has attacked Biden’s mental capacity and energy level.
In an interview with ‘Axios on HBO’ released Monday, Biden even admitted several of his campaign gaffes and verbal missteps are due to his exhaustion level.
‘I’ll find myself searching for a second,’ Biden said in the interview in Iowa, claiming he can’t find the right words sometimes. ‘I’ve always attributed that to being tired.’
If Biden chose a young and diverse running mate and Cabinet, the adviser argues he could offer himself to the Democratic electorate as the candidate to help usher in the next generation of Democratic political leaders.
‘This makes Biden a good transition figure,’ the adviser said. ‘I’d love to have an election this year for the next generation of leaders, but if I have to wait four years to get rid of Trump, I’m willing to do it.’
Biden has already hinted at several people he could choose to run as his No. 2.
Just this week in his interview with Axios, Biden said he would consider adding Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren to his ticket – even though Warren is a fellow Democratic contender who has passed Biden in some polls.
‘I’d add Sen. Warren to the list. I’d add all…’ he said, but trailed off. ‘But she’s going to be very angry, my having said that. The question is, would she add me to her list?’
‘The reason I was reluctant to mention anyone, is, first of all, if I mention anyone who is running … First of all it’s presumptuous for me to even decide who my vice president would be. I’m not even the nominee yet, that’s number one,’ Biden continued.
He also said earlier this month that he could potentially choose California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate after she dropped out of the race December 3.
‘Of course I would,’ Biden told reporters when asked if he would consider making Harris his No. 2 should he win the nomination to take on Trump next year.
‘Look, Senator Harris has the capacity to be anything she wants to be. I mean it sincerely,’ Biden told reporters last week as he boarded his ‘No Malarkey’ campaign tour bus in Iowa.
‘She is solid. She can be president someday herself. She can be the vice president. She can go on to be a Supreme Court justice. She can be an attorney general. She has enormous capability,’ he continued.
Last month, Biden listed four other people he was considering – all women.
Although he didn’t provide any names when the question was posed at a town hall, he did make clear who he was talking about.
He brought up ‘the former assistant attorney general who got fired,’ referring to former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates; and ‘the woman who should have been the governor of Georgia,’ referring to Stacey Abrams; and ‘the two senators from the state of New Hampshire,’ referring to Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan.
‘He’s going into this thinking, ‘I want to find a running mate I can turn things over to after four years but if that’s not possible or doesn’t happen then I’ll run for re-election.’ But he’s not going to publicly make a one term pledge,’ another top Biden adviser told Politico.