First lady on Biden’s plan to run in 2024: ‘I’m all for it’

(CNN) — First lady Jill Biden did not hesitate when asked if there was any chance her husband would not run for reelection in 2024.

“Not in my book,” she told CNN in an interview Saturday during a five-day trip that saw her visit Namibia and Kenya. “I’m all for it, of course.”

Her comments are the latest indication that President Joe Biden is on the verge of launching a reelection bid, even as a formal declaration has yet to be made.

President Biden is well known for engaging in extended deliberations when it comes to major political decisions. The first lady emphasized it’s ultimately a decision that is up to her husband and left an opening for him to decide against a run as well.

“It’s Joe’s decision,” she said. “And we support whatever he wants to do. If he’s in, we’re there. If he wants to do something else, we’re there too.”

The president joked in an interview with ABC News last week that he had to call his wife “to find out” whether he was running in 2024. He stressed that his intention “has been from the beginning to run. But there’s too many other things we have to finish in the near term before I start a campaign.”

Jill Biden told CNN that the president’s surprise trip to Ukraine last week and domestic issues have kept him busy in recent days, adding that “nothing’s been planned as yet.”

Critics have pointed to the 80-year-old president’s age as a factor in another run. Biden would be 82 by the 2024 inauguration and 86 by the end of a potential second term. But the first lady said his trip to Ukraine showed that he still has the energy for another presidential campaign and another four years in office.

“How many 30-year-olds could travel to Poland, get on the train? Go nine more hours, go to Ukraine, meet with President (Volodymyr) Zelensky?” she said. “So, look at the man. Look what he’s doing. Look what he continues to do each and every day.”

Jill Biden said she’s not frustrated by all the “will he or won’t he” speculation and wouldn’t confirm whether a decision on a 2024 run has been made or when it might be announced.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.