Joe Biden set for second term bid whether voters want him or not

A video confirming Joe Biden’s candidature will be released on the fourth anniversary of his 2019 announcement that he’d challenge Trump.

US President Joe Biden will announce his bid for a second term in the White House on Tuesday local time. Picture: AFP.

President Biden looks set to announce his bid for a second term Tuesday (local time) despite seven in ten Americans thinking it is time for him to hand over power to the next generation.

After spending the weekend with aides at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, Biden, 80, is ready to confirm he will stand for election again next year. He is already the oldest man ever to serve as president, and would be 86 at the end of a full second term in 2029.

A video confirming his candidature is understood to be undergoing final edits for release on the fourth anniversary of his announcement in 2019 that he intended to challenge Donald Trump for the White House.

Recent polls indicate that the two men will face each other again next year, despite the match-up being deeply unpopular with voters. A recent poll for NBC News showed that 70 per cent of voters did not want Biden to stand again. Significantly, more than half of Democrat voters, 51 per cent, shared the same opinion.

It is Biden’s age that worries most people: 48 per cent said it was a “major concern”. The president has made several gaffes since taking office but says his performance proves he is not too old. “It’s legitimate for people to raise issues about my age,” he said in February. “And the only thing I can say is, watch me.” A medical earlier this year showed he was healthy and able to discharge his duties as president.

Donald Trump speaks to supporters in Iowa via video link. Picture: Getty Images via AFP.

Trump frequently mocks Biden as “Sleepy Joe”, but the former president will be 78 himself by the time of the next election.

The NBC poll showed that 60 per cent of Americans did not want Trump to run again, with only 35 per cent saying he should. A contest between the two seems likely, however. Two fringe Democrats have said they will run against Biden, but their campaigns are little more than attention seeking.

Party grandees such as the vice president Kamala Harris, JB Pritzker, Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer, the governors of Illinois, California and Michigan respectively, all covet the White House, but will not stand against Biden next year.

For the Republicans, Trump has opened up a double-digit poll lead over Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, who at 44 does represent the next generation of leaders.

DeSantis had overtaken Trump in some polls, but after the former president was indicted on 34 felony charges related to alleged hush money paid to an adult film star to stop her speaking of their sexual relationship, his support has rocketed.

The NBC poll, which is typical of most others, has Trump at 46 per cent and DeSantis trailing on 31 per cent.

The Times