WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden made his re-election bid official Tuesday, capping months of speculation over his plans four years to the day since he announced his 2020 campaign.
In a video titled "Freedom" — which opens with a scene of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, followed by an image of an abortion rights protest — Biden said that after spending his first term spending his first term fighting for the country’s democracy, "MAGA extremists are lining up" to cut the social safety net and take away personal liberties.
"Cutting Social Security that you’ve paid for your entire life while cutting taxes for the very wealthy. Dictating what health care decisions women can make, banning books, and telling people who they can love. All while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote," he said.
He made the case that his administration still has more to do.
"When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are. The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer," he said, adding, "This is not a time to be complacent. That’s why I’m running for re-election."
The launch is an effort to position Biden as the nation's best hope to defeat a Republican opponent and cement his administration's successes heading into 2024.
The symmetry of the fourth anniversary makes a fitting opening for a president who has leaned into history at key moments to pitch his vision to Americans about the road ahead.
Biden launched his campaign in 2019 with a video message, as well — warning that four more years of Donald Trump would “forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are," and highlighting the 2017 violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. His 2020 launch video doesn't mention Trump by name, though the specter of a rematch — and an acknowledgment of the forces of Trumpism — was there. The video features an image of GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of Trump's staunchest supporters, and a photo of Trump standing beside Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is seen as a chief rival for the Republican nomination.
In his State of the Union address in February, Biden used the words “finish the job” more than a dozen times and warned of Republicans who "want to take the economy hostage." He has again and again painted a contrast with so-called MAGA Republicans, pointing to former and potential future rival Trump and the elected GOP officials he said have "proposed huge cuts" to "programs that millions of hard-working and middle-class Americans count on."
It is part of the message that propelled Biden to victory in 2020 and bolstered Democratic midterm wins in 2022 to stave off a "red wave.”
The timeline for the announcement had been in flux. Biden began consulting with family members over the holidays last year, with first lady Jill Biden in December affirming that she was “all in” on another run.
Still, Biden has resisted pressure to formalize his entry into the race, often appearing to bristle at any push for greater urgency even as preparations have ramped up in recent weeks. Asked about his plans Monday, he told reporters in the Rose Garden: “I’ve told you, I’m planning to run. You’ll know real soon.”
A visit to Ireland “reinforced” his decision to run again, Biden said this month. Parts of his anticipated re-election video were recorded last weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he has a home, after he returned from traveling in Ireland, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Yet even as Tuesday drew closer, some Democratic allies warned that the date could slip, citing Biden's willingness to slow-walk important decisions until the final moment.
The rollout is not unusual. In 2011, President Barack Obama and Biden, then the vice president, featured voters across the country in a video announcing their re-election campaign, titled “It Begins With Us.”
Biden will address the North American Building Trade Union in Washington later Tuesday, a nod to his vow to lead “the most pro-union administration in American history." The event mirrors the first rally of his 2020 campaign, which was held at a Pittsburgh union hall.
In a similar move, Vice President Kamala Harris, who Biden has said would run for re-election alongside him, joins Democratic allies for an abortion rights rally at her alma mater, Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington, D.C. Howard was her first stop after she announced her own 2020 presidential bid in a television appearance.
Other planning moves by Biden's team came in the countdown to Tuesday's early-morning announcement. NBC News reported Sunday night that Biden was set to tap Julie Chavez Rodriguez as his 2024 campaign manager.
Meanwhile, NBC News reported last week that Biden’s biggest financial supporters planned to gather Friday in Washington, where his top aides will prepare the Democratic Party’s biggest donors and bundlers to amplify campaign messaging and ensure allies are still lined up behind him.
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