Biden 2024 news: White House botches question over term length as campaign embraces ‘Dark Brandon’ meme
Democrat posts ‘Let’s Finish the Job’ promo announcing fresh run and attacking GOP populists, warning basic rights are under assault from intolerant conservatives
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Your support makes all the difference.US president Joe Biden has announced his 2024 re-election bid in a new video early on Tuesday morning, exactly four years after he launched his last campaign for the White House.
His “Let’s Finish the Job” promo opens with footage of the events of 6 January 2021 and reaffirms his commitment to fighting for freedom and democracy. It features a pointed attack on “MAGA extremists”, whom Mr Biden warns are hell-bent on cutting social security while offering tax breaks to the wealthy and assaulting abortion rights, LGBT+ values, limiting voting access and banning books.
Mr Biden says “this is our moment” to stand up for the rights of Americans as he urges voters to give him a second term in the White House to “finish the job”.
“Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans,” he says.
“There’s nothing more important, nothing more sacred. That’s been the work of my first term to fight for our democracy, to protect our rights, to make sure that everyone in this country is treated equally and that everyone is given a fair shot at making it.”
At 80, Mr Biden is the oldest candidate in American history to ever make a reelection bid.
Following his announcement, the US is now shaping up to see a rematch of the 2020 presidential election, when Mr Biden beat Mr Trump in the Republican’s quest for a second term.
But, based on recent polls, a 2020 rematch does not appear to be what the American people currently want.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had to clarify a response during her briefing on Tuesday after a reporter asked whether Mr Biden would serve a full eight years if re-elected.
“As you know, we take following the law seriously. So I wanted to be sure that I didn't go into 2024 more than is appropriate under the law. But I can confirm that if re-elected, @POTUS would serve all 8 years,” she said.
The Biden campaign, meanwhile, is embracing the “Dark Brandon” memes popularised around key policy victories for the president.
Trump unleashes furious attack on Biden full of false claims ahead of president’s 2024 announcement
Donald Trump aggressively attacked President Joe Biden, calling him “the most corrupt president in American history” and making false claims about Mr Biden as he announced his 2024 re-election bid.
Mr Biden officially launched his re-election campaign for president on Tuesday 25 April, calling on Americans to help him “finish the job.”
Just ahead of his announcement on Monday evening, Mr Trump released a lengthy press release making multiple false claims about himself and Mr Biden.
Ariana Baio has the story:
Trump unleashes furious attack on Biden with false claims ahead of 2024 announcement
Should the two recieve their respective parties nominations, it would be a repeat of the 2020 presidential election
Biden campaign embraces ‘Dark Brandon’ meme
Joe Biden’s campaign is officially leaning in to the “Dark Brandon” meme, which emerged in pro-Biden circles on social media as a sort of response to the “Let’s Go Brandon” joke that conservatives latched on to in the early days of the president’s first term.
Alex Woodward has more for The Independent on how this meme caught fire:
Inside the ‘Dark Brandon’ phenomenon
The fascist ‘Dark MAGA’ aesthetic flourished in fringe online spaces with explicit calls for violence. Liberals embraced Joe Biden’s ironic transformation as a laser-eyed antidote, Alex Woodward reports
Biden’s criticism of 63-year-old opponent’s age resurfaces as he launches 2024 bid at 80
Add Senate candidate Joe Biden to the list of people whose comments could be a problem for President Joe Biden as he seeks a second term in the White House.
The 80-year-old Mr Biden is mounting a historic re-election bid that would, if successful, see him once again become the oldest person to ever take a presidential oath of office, beating the record he previously set in 2021.
But as a new investigation from CNN’s KFile unit revealed on Tuesday, the president once attacked a political opponent quite explicitly with the same angle that Mr Biden’s detractors, particularly those in the GOP, both used in 2020 and likely will again in 2024: His age, and mental fortitude.
Read more:
Biden’s past criticism of opponent’s age resurfaces as he launches 2024 bid at 80
US president was oldest to ever take office in 2021
These are Joe Biden’s top policy priorities if he wins a second term. But the GOP could stifle his agenda
In his re-election announcement video, Mr Biden mostly refrained from highlighting specific policies he has passed and instead focused on larger themes. At the same time, he has achieved major legislative accomplishments and hopes to pass even more should he earn a second term.
With his campaign now in full swing, let’s take a look at some of the major policy priorities the president will seek to marshall across the finish line if he secures a second term.
Read more:
These are Joe Biden’s priorities if he wins a second term. The GOP could stifle them
From gun control to abortion protections, these are the top policy priorities for Joe Biden in a second term
Hunter Biden calls for investigation into Marjorie Taylor Greene
Hunter Biden, the president’s son, has long been a target of calls for investigations by Republicans. Now, he’s returning the favour.
His lawyer called for Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene to be investigated for what the president’s son has called “unmoored verbal abuses” such as false accusations of human trafficking, The Washington Post reported.
Abbe Lowell, the lawyer for President Joe Biden’s son, sent a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics asking for an investigation.
Eric Garcia reports from Washington, DC.
Hunter Biden wants investigation of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ‘unmoored verbal abuse’
Lawyer says Republican congresswoman’s comments are ‘statements false, defamatory, and malicious’
First White House press briefing since Biden’s reelection announcement set to begin
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will deliver her first remarks since the president officially announced his reelection bid in just a few minutes.
Watch below:
Union members chant ‘four more years’ at Biden event
President Joe Biden made an appearance at a national union event in downtown Washington DC on Tuesday, and was cheered by the thousands of attendees with a chant of “four more years” as his remarks concluded.
But the president declined to make specific references to his upcoming campaign for president, which officially began Tuesday morning.
Politico has the story.
First question to White House press secretary involves the Hatch Act
Karine Jean-Pierre’s first question from a reporter on Tuesday regarded whether the White House was doing anything to train staff on following the Hatch Act, which forbids members of the Executive Branch from conducting political activity while on the job, now that Joe Biden is running for reelection.
She replied by stating that the White House counsel’s office was providing guidance to staffers regarding the law but did not indicate that any special training was necessary or being applied.
Karine Jean-Pierre explains what Biden means by ‘finish the job'
The White House press secretary was asked during Tuedsay’s briefing about what Mr Biden meant in his reelection announcement and in other speeches when he referred to the need to “finish the job” in the months and years ahead.
Ms Jean-Pierre replied that Mr Biden was referring to implementing the legislation his administration had successfully shepherded through Congress, including the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as other 2020 campaign promises which have been held up by both Republicans and some of his own party members on Capitol Hill.
“You’re going to continue to hear him say this...he believes that this is a way to communicate with the American people, to communicate to let them know that we are going to do the job and finishing up the agenda that he laid out in 2020,” she said.
Trump suggests boycott of 2024 GOP debates as Democrats skip them altogether
Former President Donald Trump has suggested that he is planning on skipping the Republican primary debates due to his polling advantage and alleged biases against him.
Mr Trump voiced a particular concern with the second primary debate, scheduled to be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
Democrats, meanwhile, are not holding any debates this cycle. It’s a move that has some hoping for a younger, more progressive alternative to challenge the president on the debate stage fuming.
Abe Asher covers the ex-president’s latest Truth Social rant:
Trump suggests boycott of 2024 GOP debates as Democrats skip them altogether
Mr Trump cites alleged media bias against him as one of the reasons to skip debating
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