Biden announces 2024 reelection campaign

The latest CNN Poll of Polls, which includes a new CBS poll, finds that President Joe Biden’s approval rating among all adults stands at 41%, with 56% disapproving.

The 41% approval rating is similar to formal presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter at this stage of their presidencies.

A new survey from CBS News adds to the growing body of polling that shows Biden begins his reelection campaign with tepid support from his own party, largely driven by concerns about his age. The survey also finds, though, that most Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who plan to vote in next year’s primaries would consider supporting Biden for the nomination.

Conducted in the days leading up to Biden’s announcement, the CBS poll finds that 55% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say that Biden should run for reelection, while 45% say he should not. Broad majorities of those who favor a Biden run point to his performance as President (89%), his ability to defeat Donald Trump (83%) and his personal qualities (79%) as reasons for that support. Those opposed, though, broadly focus on his age (86%) and that it’s time for someone new (77%).  

In the end, 79% of Democrats and Democratic-leaners who say they plan to vote in the Democratic primaries say they would consider backing Biden for the party’s nod.                                      

The findings in the CBS poll are similar to those in other recent polls in showing middling Democratic support for Biden’s reelection bid, including surveys from NBC News, AP-NORC and CNN. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist and environmental lawyer, described himself as a truth-teller who will “end the division” as he launched his bid for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination last Wednesday in Boston.

Kennedy used his campaign launch speech to lambast school and business closures during the coronavirus pandemic and to insist that government and media “lie to us.” 

“My mission over the next 18 months of this campaign and throughout my presidency,” he said, “will be to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening now – threatening now – to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism in our country; to commoditize our children, our purple mountain’s majesty; to poison our children and our people with chemicals and pharmaceutical drugs; to strip-mine our assets; to hollow out the middle class and keep us in a constant state of war.”

The 69-year-old Kennedy is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of former US attorney general and assassinated 1968 presidential candidate Robert Kennedy. 

President Joe Biden, who entered the 2024 race Tuesday, now joins Kennedy and self-help guru Marianne Williamson in the presidential primary. CNN reported last week that to the confident advisers in the Biden orbit and their wider circle of supporters, the Kennedy challenge only serves to reinforce the president’s strength. 

The Democratic National Committee has made very clear, meanwhile, that the party apparatus is aligned with Biden. No plans for primary debates are underway.

One hurdle likely facing Kennedy as he attempts to win over Democratic voters: his own family. Some Kennedy family members have denounced his views on vaccines. He has also clashed with his mother and siblings over his support for the release of Sirhan Sirhan, the man who shot and killed his father in a moment that changed US history.

He acknowledged in his speech the opposition within his own family to his presidential bid.

“Other members of my family who are not here today – I’m going to make a confession because I know most American families, they never have any differences with each other,” he said. “So when that happens with a family, it’s really huge news, like everywhere.”

Read more about the candidate here.

CNN's Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed reporting to this post.

Joe Biden, a career politician with decades of experience in Washington, entered his first presidential term in 2021 in the shadow of an insurrection and pervasive election denialism that has trailed him through his time in office. His 2020 presidential campaign was built on a belief that the election was a battle for the soul of the nation following four years of the Trump administration.

And it’s a theme he’s repeatedly tapped into throughout his time in office, going so far as to deliver an urgent rebuke of former President Donald Trump and those aligned with his attempts to undermine democracy ahead of the 2022 midterms, essentially arguing that the elections were a referendum on election denialism.

Coming out of a once-in-a-generation pandemic and taking office days after a history-making act of public upheaval and violence in Washington, Biden faces two unique challenges coming into the 2024 campaign.

First, the former congressional lawmaker elected to office as the sixth youngest US senator in history will be the first incumbent octogenarian to ask the American public to reappoint him to a term that would end when he’s 86 years old.

CNN reported in August that a campaign is a heavy lift not everyone in the family was initially on board for. But first lady Jill Biden told CNN during an interview in February she was “all for it.”

In October, the president maintained that voters concerned about his age should see his record of accomplishments since taking office.

Biden will also face the unique prospect of possibly facing a former president as his potential challenger.

Trump, who has been indicted on business fraud charges in New York and remains under investigation for his actions as president, would have to defy historical odds to retake the presidency. The only US president to lose a presidential election and then regain the White House four years later was Grover Cleveland. And so far, some Republicans have been tepid about Trump’s presidential bid, especially after how poorly Trump-backed candidates did in key races in last fall’s midterms. Yet at this stage, Trump remains the clear Republican frontrunner, leading his rivals by double digits.

Biden has said he believes he can beat Trump again, but his bid does not allay recent fears from fellow Democrats uncertain about how he’ll fare against a different Republican leading the ticket.

Some top Democrats have privately told CNN they worry this could lead to a more difficult 2024 campaign against a younger, fresher Republican.

Former President Barack Obama touted the Biden administration's accomplishments so far as he tweeted to mark the launch of Joe Biden's reelection campaign Tuesday.

“He’s delivered for the American people — and he’ll continue to do so once he’s re-elected," Obama said in the tweet, which shared Biden's video announcing his 2024 bid.

See Obama's tweet:

The question put to South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, hours after he announced plans to run for the Republican presidential nomination, was a simple one: How do you plan to defeat Donald Trump?

Scott spoke for nearly a minute, discussing his mother, his belief in the power of prayer and his “faith in God and faith in our future.” When Fox and Friends co-host Steve Doocy lightly pressed for a more direct answer, Scott shook him off again.

“As opposed to trying to have a conversation about how to beat a Republican,” he said, “I think we’re better off having a conversation about beating Joe Biden.”

Scott, like his fellow GOP presidential contenders, is itching to take on the Democratic president, who is now poised to officially launch his reelection bid. But their first challenge will be getting through the Republican primary – and unseating Trump as the party’s standard bearer.

Even with Trump facing a historic indictment and ongoing questions about his perpetuation of election lies, his challengers are still deeply reluctant to take on the former president, who sits atop almost every poll of the field despite numerous legal issues and the widespread rejection of his chosen candidates in the 2022 midterms. Trump picked up a key endorsement on Monday from the head of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm.

Whether it’s a fear of alienating his core supporters or taking a social media drubbing, this new class of candidates – some officially in, others plotting their entry – has been careful in their remarks about Trump, largely steering clear of sharp criticism in favor of the occasional implicit jab, the kind that often fails to register with the average voter, or subtle indications of opposing policy views.

Trump’s lesser-known rivals, he added, need to use the coming months to introduce themselves to voters and make favorable first impressions before they risk alienating Republican voters by taking on the still-popular former president.

Read more here.

A new NBC News poll is the latest to find former President Donald Trump with a significant lead over other potential candidates for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, while also showing little public appetite for a 2020 rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden in next year’s election.

The poll finds that just 26% of Americans think Biden should run for a second term as president, while 70% say he should not. Among Democrats, 51% say Biden should not run for a second term. That mirrors the findings of other recent polls showing tepid support for a Biden bid for reelection, including an AP-NORC poll released Friday and CNN polling released earlier this month.

In the NBC poll, nearly half of those who oppose a Biden run say that his age is a major reason for that view (48% of those who say he should not run call his age a major reason, 21% call it a minor reason, and 29% say his age is not a reason).

Among those who say they would vote in the Republican presidential primary next year, 46% say they would back Trump out of a list of seven possible candidates, 31% choose Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and 6% former Vice President Mike Pence. All other candidates tested were at 3% or less. A Wall Street Journal poll released Friday also found Trump with a wide lead over DeSantis. But about two-thirds of Republican primary voters in the NBC survey say they would back Trump as either their first or second choice (66%), similar to the share who say the same about DeSantis (64%).

With the NBC poll included, CNN’s Poll of Polls average for Biden’s job approval rating stands at 41% approve to 56% disapprove.

First lady Dr. Jill Biden is keeping to her normal schedule and heading to the classroom today, hours after her husband President Joe Biden launched his reelection bid.

It’s similar to a photo she posted four years ago today when her husband launched his 2020 campaign.

The first lady is expected to be an active campaigner but for the time being has a busy few weeks of official business ahead. The East Wing has been gearing up for an elaborate state dinner for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife. This evening, the Bidens will visit the Korean War Memorial with the South Korean president as they welcome him for the state visit.

She is also set to attend the coronation of King Charles next month.

On Monday, asked whether there was anything else she was looking forward to this week as she previewed preparations for a state dinner, the first lady laughed.

“The White House Correspondents dinner? Busy week!” she joked.

Efforts to stand up President Joe Biden's campaign intensified in the days ahead of his announcement.

On Tuesday, he named Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a senior White House official, as his campaign manager, and Quentin Fulks, who ran Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock’s successful 2022 race, as his deputy campaign manager.

While Rodriguez will formally manage the campaign, the effort will also be largely guided from the West Wing, where top aides Anita Dunn, Jen O’Malley Dillon, Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti will also play central roles.

He also named a slate of campaign co-chairs, including Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Veronica Escobar of Texas; Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois; DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The operation is expected to be headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, where Biden spends most weekends.

What his day-to-day could look like: Biden’s expected campaign launch will not prompt a sudden change in his day-to-day schedule as commander in chief, according to advisers. Instead, it will come amid a busy week of engagements, a signal of Biden’s approach toward balancing his day job with the job of being a candidate.

What Biden could begin soon is a heavier schedule of fundraising. Democratic officials have laid tentative plans for Biden to begin an active fundraising schedule this summer. And he is expected to meet some major donors to his previous campaign in Washington this week.

Biden had long said he planned to run again in 2024, but he had also underscored frequently that he’s a respecter of fate and that he’d have to confer with his family before deciding to throw his hat into the ring.

He told CNN’s Jake Tapper in October that he planned to process whether to run for reelection after the midterm elections.

Biden’s top advisers revealed last fall that they had been making plans to build out a 2024 run. And Vice President Kamala Harris has consistently said she expects to be Biden’s runningmate if he runs for reelection.

Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, who was named one of the co-chairs of Joe Biden's 2024 presidential campaign, said he is "optimistic about the 2024 election" after the president announced his bid for reelection.

Coons listed Biden's actions as president, including passing the bipartisan infrastructure bill and lowering prescription drug prices.

"President Trump talked about rebuilding our infrastructure. President Biden has actually gotten it done — passed a record bill to invest in rebuilding our infrastructure, a bipartisan bill," Coons said. "President Trump talked about cutting prescription drug prices. President Biden has actually gotten it done, signing into law a bill that will reduce prescription drug prices for millions of Americans."

Under Biden, America is "stronger abroad and stronger at home," Coons added.