Joe Biden 2024 presidential campaign

Joe Biden, the 46th and current president of the United States, announced his candidacy for re-election for a second and final term as president on April 25, 2023, with Vice President Kamala Harris as his running mate. If re-elected, he would be the oldest president inaugurated (on January 20, 2025), breaking his own (January 20, 2021) record, and he would be the second two-term vice president to be elected president twice, after Richard Nixon in 1972.

In May 2021, Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain indicated the Biden administration was "anticipating a bruising general election matchup" against Donald Trump, who had served as the 45th president of the United States and had been defeated by Biden in the 2020 presidential election, if the latter followed through on a bid to return to the presidency. In November 2021, against a backdrop of declining approval ratings, the Biden White House reiterated Biden's intent to run for reelection. In a March 2022 press conference, when asked about the possibility that Trump could be his opponent in 2024, Biden replied, "I'd be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me".

Background

This is Biden's fourth presidential campaign, and his first as an incumbent. His first campaign was in the 1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries. While he was initially considered one of the strongest candidates in that race, a scandal broke soon thereafter when news reports uncovered plagiarism by Biden in law school records and in speeches. This revelation led to his withdrawal from the race in September 1987.

He made a second attempt during the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Like his first presidential bid, Biden failed to garner a sufficient level of endorsements and support. He withdrew from the race after his poor performance in the Iowa caucus on January 3, 2008. He was eventually chosen to be the running mate of the party's nominee Barack Obama. Following the Obama/Biden ticket's victory in the general election, Biden was sworn in as vice president of the United States on January 20, 2009. He ran again as Obama's running mate in 2012 and was re-elected vice president, being sworn in for second term on January 20, 2013, and serving until January 20, 2017.

Biden's third presidential bid came during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries where he focused his plans as the candidate with the best chance of defeating then-president Donald Trump in the general election. Politico reported in 2018 that Biden had rejected a proposition to commit to serving only one term as president.

In a PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll released on April 25, 2023 - the day Biden announced his reelection campaign - his approval rating was just 41%, with a disapproval rating of 50%. Several polls both before and after Biden's campaign announcement have shown that most Democrats want the party to nominate someone other than Biden for president in the 2024 election.

Campaign

Announcement

On April 25, 2023, Biden announced he was running for re-election. It was also announced that Julie Chávez Rodriguez would serve as campaign manager and Quentin Fulks would be principal deputy campaign manager. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Jim Clyburn, Chris Coons, Tammy Duckworth, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Gretchen Whitmer were named national campaign co-chairs. Biden's campaign was launched four years to the day after the start of his 2020 presidential campaign. Politico reported that: "Biden is considering Michael Tyler (the longtime Democratic operative) for the role of communications director in his 2024 campaign".

Biden formally kicked off his reelection campaign on June 17, 2023, at a union rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Social media activity

The Biden campaign created an account on Truth Social in October 2023. They announced on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that they had created the account on Truth Social because they found the idea "very funny". Numerous observers characterised this as an exercise by the Biden campaign in trolling Donald Trump.

National advisory board

The Biden-Harris 2024 national advisory board consists of:

Platform

Biden has frequently stated his intention to "finish the job" as a campaign theme and political rallying cry. Biden has been described as a political moderate and centrist, and is seeking to attract moderate Republicans and independents for his 2024 reelection bid.

Abortion access

Biden has been described as running on one of the most overtly abortion rights platform of any general election candidate in political history. Biden has promised to restore Roe v. Wade if reelected, and has criticized court rulings limiting abortion access or restricting the availability of abortion pills.

Democracy

Biden has made defending American democracy the cornerstone of his presidential campaign, stating during a speech on January 5, 2024, "the defense, protection and preservation of American democracy will remain, as it has been, the central cause of my presidency." Joe Biden has frequently called attention to Trump's former attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election and its culmination in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, widely described as an attempted coup d'état or self-coup. Trump has claimed that Joe Biden is the "destroyer" and real threat to democracy, and has repeated false claims that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from him, of which there has been no evidence.

Joe Biden has framed the 2024 election as a battle for democracy and defending the "soul of America," which echoes Biden's framing of current geopolitics as "the battle between democracy and autocracy." Joe Biden previously cited democracy and "a battle for the soul of our nation" as a key message of his successful 2020 run, and has repeatedly touched on the issue of democracy since announcing his candidacy for the 2020 presidential election.

Economy and trade

Biden has dubbed his economic policy "Bidenomics" and has promised to create middle-class jobs and reject trickle-down economics. For his 2024 reelection campaign, Biden has pointed to his previous passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Chips and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act; all of which are expected to invest $1 to $2 trillion in industrial policy over 10 years. Biden previously passed the American Rescue Plan Act to speed up the economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent recession.

Biden's trade agenda has been noted to reject traditional neoliberal economic policies and the Washington Consensus in favor of de-risking supply chains from China and economic investment in target nations to address pandemic resilience, climate change, U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and the rejection of Chinese-style autocracy. Biden's policies are expected to increase public-private partnerships through the World Bank and IMF to compete with China's Belt and Road Initiative. Biden has stated his intention to reverse neoliberal policies that resulted in the offshoring of manufacturing and thus resulted in increased populist backlash.

Education

Biden previously supported two-years of free community college during his 2020 campaign, and has continued to propose it in yearly budget requests despite failing to have it pass during negotiations with Republicans as part of his Build Back Better Plan in 2021. Biden has promised to triple Title I funding, and as of the end of 2023, managed an 11% increase totaling $2 billion for Title I along with increased funding for Pell Grants and $7.3 billion in investments for HBCU's.

Biden has stated he opposes book bans and has promised to appoint an anti-book ban coordinator to address the issue. Biden has stated that attacks on teachers for talking about race and racism is wrong, and has opposed Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act. Biden supports protections for transgender students while also allowing school districts to restrict transgender women in competitive women's sports through updating Title IX protections.

Biden continues to support student loan relief and had made it a promise of his initial 2020 campaign, and previously attempted a $400 billion student debt relief plan that was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Biden has since implemented a more modest income-driven $39 billion debt relief plan impacting 800,000 borrowers who had paid their loans over 20 years, and waived some rules regarding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program that resulted in an additional 662,000 people having some debt canceled. On January 12, 2024, Biden announced debt relief under the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan to wipe loans up to $12,000 that have been in repayment for 10 years or more, along with additional measures to take effect in July to limit payments to 5% of discretionary income from the previous 10%. As of the end of 2023, Biden has canceled $132 billion worth of student loans affecting 3.6 million borrowers despite the Supreme Court's prior ruling. On January 19, 2024, Biden canceled another $4.9 billion in student loan debt for 73,600 borrowers. On March 21, 2024, Biden announced an additional $5.8 billion in loan relief for 77,700 borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. On April 12, 2024, Biden announced another $7.4 billion in student loan relief affecting roughly 277,000 borrowers.

Energy, environment, and climate change

Biden has stated he believes in human-caused climate change. Biden previously strengthened environmental protections that had been weakened during the Trump administration. Biden passed the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in addressing climate change and clean energy in US history with over $375 billion in funding and putting the US on track to meet emissions reduction targets by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030, and has created 170,600 new clean energy jobs with over $278 billion in new investments in 44 states. Biden has stated his intention to use both regulation and market forces to address climate change, and has established clean energy tax credits and subsidies for electric cars, heat-pumps, and climate friendly technology.

In addition to record funding for clean energy, Biden has overseen a record in US crude oil production with over 13.2 million barrels of crude per day, beating Saudi Arabia and Russia by millions of barrels and the 13 million barrels per day produced at the peak of Trump's presidency. Biden has previously stated his intention to lower prices at the gas pump, which experts believe is key to his 2024 reelection campaign. Biden's first term dealt with supply shocks caused by the 2021-2024 global energy crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Foreign policy

Biden has been described as presiding over "the most transformative phase in U.S. foreign policy in decades," and has made strengthening American alliances to ensure a "position of trusted leadership" among allies to counter Russia and China, and ensuring that no other world power should surpass the United States in the military and economic spheres a focus of his presidency. Biden noticeably sought to reduce U.S. military presence in the Greater Middle East, and withdrew troops from Afghanistan after which the Taliban seized control. Biden has made strengthening the NATO alliance and preparing for great power competition a cornerstone of his first term in office, and has promised to defend the NATO alliance during his second term following reported comments that Trump told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that America would "never come to help you and to support you" if Europe was attacked. Biden has described modern geopolitics as "the battle between democracy and autocracy." Biden has promised to continue supporting Ukraine following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Israel following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, describing them as "vital" to U.S. national security interests. By March 2024, Biden has become increasingly critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and has authorized air drops of aid and announced the construction of a military port to facilitate the delivery of aid to the enclave.

Gun violence

Biden has promised to tackle gun violence through enacting universal background checks and increasing scrutiny of sales in gun shows and other unlicensed venues. Biden has also proposed implementing a ban on assault weapons. Biden was previously instrumental in passing the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004, and has spoken of its impacts on the campaign trail.

Biden has stated his support of the First Step Act, red flag laws, increased background checks, the ability to bar people from carrying guns in schools and allowing gun manufacturers to be sued in court.

Biden previously announced the formation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, signed the first major gun control legislation in 30 years through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and issued Executive Order 14092 to stiffen background checks, ensure safer firearms storage and provide additional direction for law enforcement agencies.

Immigration

Biden has stated his intention to increase funding and resources for border patrol and enforcement, provide a path for people in the United States to apply for legal status and eventually citizenship, and create a smoother and expanded visa process for foreign graduates of American universities. Biden previously introduced the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 on his first day of office that stalled due to Republican opposition. Biden also issued a memorandum to reinstate the DACA program, overturned Trump's travel ban in Executive Order 13780, and reversed Trump's Executive Order 13768 that targeted sanctuary cities in the United States. The Biden administration has undertaken a policy of punishing migrants who enter the country illegally and providing temporary protections to migrants from certain countries such as Venezuela, Ukraine, Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti. This has resulted in a total increase in migrants legally arriving at points of entry, and a decrease in migrants attempting to illegally cross the border.

In February 2024, Biden supported a bipartisan immigration bill to address the Mexico-United States border crisis that included many conservative demands and also unlocked aid to Ukraine and Israel. Trump successfully called on House and Senate Republicans to kill the bill arguing that it would hurt his and Republican's reelection campaigns and deny them the ability to run on immigration as an issue. Biden has since promised to campaign "every day" on Republican's refusal to pass the bill, stating that Donald Trump is the "only reason the border is not secure."

Law enforcement

Joe Biden has run on a pro-police message and has explicitly stated his opposition to the "defund the police" movement and Republican calls to "defund the FBI." Biden previously celebrated billions in funds for police departments in his 2022 State of the Union Address, and has provided hundreds of millions since then towards the hiring of additional police officers, school safety efforts, and community policing efforts. Biden has also called on police reform, stating in February, 2023, "when police officers or police departments violate the public trust, they must be held accountable." During his first term, Biden restricted the transfer of military equipment to police, directed federal law enforcement to restrict chokeholds and no-knock warrants, ordered new use-of-force standards within the Justice Department and signed an executive order to create a national database of fired police officers. Biden has repeatedly pushed for community policing and violence intervention efforts and more mental and social services funding.

LGBT, civil, and voting rights

Biden has stated he supports protecting the LGBT community and supports access to gender-affirming care. Biden previously passed the Respect for Marriage Act which protected same-sex and interracial marriage in the United States after a concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that suggested the court should revisit Obergefell v. Hodges.

Biden previously attempted to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in response to the George Floyd protests that ultimately failed after talks with Republican Senators broke down, resulting in Biden's passage of Executive Order 14074. Biden also passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act to officially make lynching a federal hate crime.

Biden passed Executive Order 14019 to protect voting rights following Republican efforts to restrict voting following the 2020 presidential election, and attempted to pass the For the People Act to reduce the influence of money in politics, ban partisan gerrymandering, and create new federal ethics rules for officeholders that ultimately failed over opposition from Republican Senators.

Social services and healthcare

Biden has promised to include the remaining pledges left out of his initial Build Back Better Act owing to resistance from Senators that ultimately resulted in the compromise Inflation Reduction Act. These include offering two years of free community college tuition, offering universal preschool and limiting the cost of childcare to 7% of income for most families. Biden has also signaled his intention to resuscitate the expanded child tax credit initially passed in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to $3,000 for children over six and $3,600 to children under 6, which previously resulted in a roughly 30% reduction in child poverty.

Biden has promised to protect and defend the Affordable Care Act after Trump commented he would seek to replace the law if he wins a second term, and Republican senators expressed openness to repealing certain sections of the law. Biden has promised to defend Social Security and Medicare following comments made by Trump during a March 11, 2024 interview that suggested he was open to cutting the entitlement programs, which the Trump campaign later said was merely referring to "cutting waste." Biden has also signaled his intention to expand the price cap on the cost of insulin at $35 for Medicare recipients enacted as part of the Inflation Reduction Act to private insurance. Biden previously signed one of the largest expansions in veterans benefits in American history through the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 that provided medical care for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.

Taxes and deficit reduction

Biden has shared plans to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans to fund social services and reduce the deficit. Biden has proposed raising the top tax rate to 39.6%, the corporate tax rate to 28% and the stock buyback tax to 4%. Biden has proposed a "Billionaire Minimum Income Tax" that would target one-hundredth of 1% of Americans (roughly 700 billionaires) that would raise over $361 billion over 10 years by ensuring the wealthy pay a minimum tax rate of 20%.

Biden previously implemented a 15% minimum tax on companies with annual income exceeding $1 billion. As part of the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden provided a one-time funding boost of $80 billion to the Internal Revenue Service to modernize its systems and hire additional staff to reduce an estimated $688 billion tax gap in uncollected payments by increasing audit rates of the wealthy and tax evaders. On January 12, 2024, the IRS announced it had collected more than $520 million in back taxes from delinquent high-income individuals, complex partnerships and large corporations due to increased funding from the Inflation Reduction Act.

Campaign finances

Overall strategy

The Biden campaign has been reported to plan to raise and spend $2 billion. To get around the $6,600 per donor, per year limitation to Biden's reelection campaign, the Biden campaign's financial strategy has involved closely working with the Democratic National Committee and establishing joint fundraising committees with local state parties in all 50 states. As a result, individual donors can donate almost $1 million per year to be distributed to the DNC, local state parties, and the affiliated Biden Victory Fund. Biden's campaign previously gave the DNC its supporter and fundraising data after Inauguration Day in 2021. This approach has been noted to be different to former President Obama's use his own outside organization, Organizing for America, that ultimately competed for donors and left the DNC in debt.

Finances throughout the 2024 campaign

In summer and fall 2023, The Associated Press reported that Democrats were nervous about Biden's lack of fundraising and campaign activity. Of note were the 2023 Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes in California that prevented Biden from raising money from Hollywood figures owing to his pro-union stance. On January 15, 2024, Biden and the DNC reported taking in $97 million in the final three months of the year and after a December fundraising blitz, and announced that it took in $235 million from its launch in April 2023 and ended the year with $117 million cash on hand.

In early 2024, Biden's presidential campaign was noted to have a considerable fundraising and cash advantage over Trump in part due to his opponents contributions being diverted to cover his many legal fees. The Biden campaign reported raising $42 million in January with $130 million cash on hand, and raising $53 million in February ending the month with $155 million cash on hand. According to February FEC filings, Biden-aligned super PACs had $64 million cash on hand and $900 million has been pledged by Democratic groups and major unions. According to a March 28 Reuters article, large contributions made up 55% of Biden's support, compared to 65% of Trump's support.

Campaign events

Notable events

On January 5, 2024, Biden held his first campaign rally for the year. Described as an unofficial campaign kickoff near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, the event previewed Biden's campaign theme of defending democracy and labeling Trump as a danger to democracy.

On January 8, 2024, Biden held his second campaign speech of the year at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, home of the 2015 Charleston church shooting, to speak against white supremacism and compared Donald Trump and his supporters to defeated Confederates after the Civil War supporting a "second lost cause" around denying the results of the 2020 election.

On March 28, 2024, Biden held a large campaign event with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and announced raising over $26 million, a record for a single political event.

Endorsements

Opposition

Arab and Muslim Americans

In response to the Biden administration's response to the Israel–Hamas war, a vocal minority of progressives, Muslim, and Arab American leaders have disrupted events and formed protest votes in swing states through the #AbandonBiden campaign, which encourages voters in the United States to not vote for Biden as a form of protest of his support for Israel. The organization leaders said they would not support Donald Trump, but would not vote for Biden either. On December 30, 2023, the #AbandonBiden campaign announced its countrywide expansion. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, argued that Arab American opposition to Biden was due to his "insensitivity" to Palestinian suffering.

Biden's support of Israel has prompted opposition from Muslim Americans and Arab Americans, particularly in Michigan, which has a large Muslim population and a large Arab population. Mayor Abdullah Hammoud of Dearborn refused to meet with Biden's campaign in January 2024 because he said the lives of Palestinians are not measured in poll numbers. Hammoud later joined 30 state legislators and members of the Wayne County Commission to put pressure on Biden. U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, also called for Michigan Democrats to vote "uncommitted" in the state primary. Due to Michigan's status as a swing state, some analysts have said that Biden's support of Israel could cause him to lose the state.

Calls for Biden to withdraw

Biden has faced calls from both pundits and fellow Democrats to withdraw from the race due to concerns with his health, his polling numbers against Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump, and his low approval ratings, which have stayed below 44% since August 2021. In February 2024, a Gallup poll had Biden's approval among Americans at 38%, while an Ipsos poll showed that 86% of voters believe he is too old to serve a second term. Due to this, Democrats have suggested for Biden to drop out of the race to let a younger candidate with more national appeal become the Democratic nominee. Suggestions on who could replace Biden include Kamala Harris, whose own approval ratings and electability are a concern for party officials. Other alternatives include California governor Gavin Newsom, whose actions in recent months have suggested a shadow campaign, as well as other state governors with national profiles: Jared Polis of Colorado, J. B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. Biden and his campaign have deflected these concerns, demonstrating that he intends to stay in the race. Jaime Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, called the idea of replacing Biden "certifiably crazy" in a tweet. By March 2024, the majority of Democratic officials, politicians, and strategists have coalesced around Biden as their nominee, especially following his 2024 State of the Union Address.

Democratic primaries

Biden was not on the ballot in the New Hampshire primary of January 23, but won the state in a write-in campaign with 63.8% of the vote. Biden had wanted South Carolina to be the first primary, and won that state on February 3 with 96% of the vote. Biden received 89.3% of the vote in Nevada and 81.1% of the vote in Michigan, with "None of these Candidates" and "Uncommitted" coming in second, respectively. On Super Tuesday 2024, Biden won 15 of 16 contests, netting 80% or more of the primary vote in 13 of the 16 contests. On March 12, with wins in Georgia, Mississippi and Washington, he reached the 1,968 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination, becoming the presumptive nominee.

Polling

Primary election

General election

See also

• Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign

References

External links

• Official website