Joe Biden will spend the New Year holidays with his family in the US Virgin Islands.
Washington:
President Joe Biden was to depart for the US Virgin Islands on Tuesday, exchanging a deadly snowstorm for a Caribbean vacation – and an expected New Year’s resolution to seek re-election in 2024.
He received flak from early-morning Fox News hosts for being “ready to have a good time” while Americans face blizzards.
However, Biden has left for St. Croix Island with a successful 2022 event and is gathering momentum to declare at the unprecedented age of 80 that he wants another four years in the White House.
If nothing else, the week off in the sun will be a welcome break for a president whose first two years in office saw an incredible array of crises — most of them inherited when he was already 78. Took over at the age of
The first half of his term saw the peak and fall of the Covid pandemic, a humiliating exit from the two-decade-old Afghanistan war, 40-year high inflation, and a steady decline from his Republican predecessor Donald Trump’s effort to lift America up. Democracy.
Last December, Democrats’ planned New Year’s holiday in Puerto Rico was canceled at the last minute due to the Covid Omicron surge.
However, today Biden is ready for the beach.
At home, his party secured a 2022 legislative victory, with a December bill protecting same-sex marriage. Increases in gasoline prices – once the most politically damaging line item in any inflation spreadsheet – have become almost normal.
Abroad, Biden has been on a strong roll, leading a Western coalition in support of Ukraine’s fight against Russia while aggressively renewing US commitment to Asian allies confronting China.
Meanwhile, congressional Republicans are in disarray as they prepare to take over the House of Representatives in January, and Trump, still the party’s dominant leader, faces multiple legal threats.
No wonder Biden celebrated the holiday cheer in an op-ed published by Yahoo News just before Christmas.
He wrote, “As we look back at 2022 – and look forward to what lies ahead – I have never been more confident about what the American people and the American economy can accomplish.”
– Age question –
White House incumbents almost always run for re-election – and usually win.
Only three presidents, who served a full term the first time around, chose to step down without taking a second shot. Trump is on a short list of presidents whose re-election bids failed.
However, precedent goes out the window when it comes to Biden’s age.
He will be 82 at his second inauguration and 86 by the time he leaves office – nearly a decade older than Ronald Reagan, the previous record holder for old age in the White House, who served his second term at 77.
Whether age matters is a subject of debate, often ferocious.
Republicans are trying to make Biden look old. They point to his periodic verbal stumbles, his shaky gait, and moments when he gives the impression of being confused or forgetful.
Supporters say Biden, whose gaffes and stammers have been a characteristic of his entire career, shows daily that he is in command of complex work and that many of his qualities come to the fore when he is off guard in high-stakes White House meetings. There are cameras. ,
Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, concluded in his annual report a year ago that apart from relatively minor signs of old age, the president was in excellent health and “fit to successfully perform the duties of the presidency.”
A new physical is expected to be completed shortly and O’Connor’s new assessment will be thoroughly scrutinized.
For Biden, he wants Americans to judge him on his results, effectively saying that age is just a number. “Look at me,” he likes to say.
The decision to run will set into motion an all-consuming battle that will likely end in a rematch against Trump, who has already declared his campaign. Should Biden step aside, Vice President Kamala Harris would be the obvious replacement on the ticket, but she could face challengers, potentially sparking internal Democratic turmoil.
Whatever is decided in the Caribbean will initially remain a closely guarded secret. However, Chief of Staff Ron Klain says the announcement is only a matter of time.
“I expect the president to make that decision shortly after the holidays,” Klein said this month. “I expect the decision to make it.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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