Will Joe Biden run again for president in 2024?
State of the Union address showed Biden at his best and in command of his brief for once

There have been times over the past two years when Joe Biden has shown his age, said Eugene Robinson in The Washington Post – moments when he has seemed tired or has lost his place in a speech. But if anyone thought the 80-year-old doesn’t have the energy for the job, the president proved them wrong in his State of the Union address last week. It was a commanding performance.
The atmosphere in the House chamber was so unruly that it resembled a “raucous session of Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons”, said Robinson. Yet far from being put off, Biden seemed to feed off the energy, responding to Republican interruptions with playful ad libs and challenges. “As my football coach used to say,” he shot back at one heckler, “lots of luck in your senior year.” Biden looked like a man who was enjoying himself – and who had every intention of running for president again.
He’s running, all right, said Susan B. Glasser in The New Yorker, and judging by this speech, “he means to win”. It looks as if his strategy for 2024 is to co-opt Trump’s economic populism: he’s pitching his message squarely at the aggrieved voters of Middle America, but instead of offering them anger he’s selling himself as a pragmatic, reasonable president who “might actually do something about their problems”.He couldn’t have asked for “a better foil” than Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican congresswoman and conspiracy theorist, who leapt up and shouted “Liar!” during his speech. Biden played it “deftly”, agreed Jeffrey Blehar in National Review, using his “retail political skills” and 50 years’ worth of “memorised blue-collar shtick”. For once, the president seemed “in command of his brief”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Biden should quit while he’s ahead, said Michelle Goldberg in The New York Times. There’s no getting round the age thing. Democrats in focus groups talk about holding their breath every time he speaks; in a recent poll, 58% of blue-leaning independents and Democrats said they wanted a different candidate in 2024. With many polls showing Donald Trump’s popularity slipping, there’s a good chance that Biden could find himself up against a Republican such as Ron DeSantis, who will be 46 next year. “For Democrats, the visual contrast alone could be devastating.” Biden talked of wanting to be “a bridge to the next generation of Democrats”. To play that role, and protect his legacy, he should bow out of the 2024 race.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
October 4 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include the Einstein files, defunding the police, and an odd tribute to Jane Goodall
-
Mustardy beans and hazelnuts recipe
The Week Recommends Nod to French classic offers zingy, fresh taste
-
Under siege: Argentina’s president drops his chainsaw
Talking Point The self-proclaimed ‘first anarcho-capitalist president in world history’ faces mounting troubles
-
Under siege: Argentina’s president drops his chainsaw
Talking Point The self-proclaimed ‘first anarcho-capitalist president in world history’ faces mounting troubles
-
Sarkozy behind bars: the conviction dividing France
In the Spotlight Sarkozy speaks to the press with wife Carla Bruni at his side outside a Paris courtroom after the guilty verdict
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Why is this government shutdown so consequential?
Today's Big Question Federal employee layoffs could be in the thousands
-
Shutdown: Democrats stand firm, at a cost
Feature With Trump refusing to negotiate, Democrats’ fight over health care could push the government toward a shutdown
-
TikTok: A little help from Trump’s friends
Feature Trump’s new TikTok deal would hand the app over to 'his billionaire allies,' ignoring national security concerns
-
Antifa: A useful right-wing bogeyman?
Feature Trump signs executive order labeling antifa a “domestic terrorist” group
-
King Bibi's profound changes to the Middle East
Feature Over three decades, Benjamin Netanyahu has profoundly changed both Israel and the Middle East.