Joe Biden ready to run for re-election in 2024, US first lady says

Jill Biden says 'pretty much' nothing left to do but choose time and place for official announcement

US first lady Jill Biden says her husband President Joe Biden will run for re-election. EPA

US first lady Jill Biden gave one of the clearest indications yet that President Joe Biden would run for a second term, telling The Associated Press in an exclusive interview on Friday that there is “pretty much” nothing left to do but figure out the time and place for the announcement.

Although Mr Biden has long said that it is his intention to seek re-election, he has yet to make it official, and he has struggled to dispel questions about whether he is too old to continue serving.

Mr Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term.

“He says he’s not done,” the first lady said in Nairobi, the second and final stop of her five-day trip to Africa. “He’s not finished what he’s started. And that’s what’s important.”

She added: “How many times does he have to say it for you to believe it?”

Biden aides have said an announcement is likely to come in April, after the first fundraising quarter ends, which is around the time that former president Barack Obama officially launched his re-election campaign.

The first lady has long been described as a key figure in Mr Biden's orbit as he plans his future.

“Because I'm his wife,” she laughed.

But she brushed off the question about whether she has the deciding vote on whether the President runs for re-election.

“Of course he'll listen to me, because we're a married couple,” she said. But she added later: “He makes up his own mind, believe me.”

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