US President Joe Biden will run for reelection in 2024 if he is 'in good health'

United States President Joe Biden, the oldest president in the country’s history, said that he would run for re-election if he was “in good health” and believed that “fate” would help bring him a second term in the White House. The 79-year-old made the caveat in an interview with ABC News which aired on Wednesday and said that he would welcome another face-off with former US President Donald Trump, who Biden defeated in November 2020 elections. 

Biden said in the televised interview, “If I’m in the health I’m in now – I’m in good health – then, in fact, I would run again.”

“I’m a great respecter of fate. Fate has intervened in my life many, many times,” he added.

US President said that a rematch against his 2020 rival, Trump would make him more likely to take part in the next presidential race. The Democrat said, “You’re trying to tempt me now. Sure. Why would I not run against Donald Trump if he were the nominee? That would increase the prospect of running.” Trump, who is 75, would also be in his 80s in the White House if he wins the second non-consecutive term. The Republican leader has repeatedly hinted towards taking part in his re-election bid in 2024.

Biden denied calling US response to Omicron 'failure'

It is to note that amid the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of momentum in the legislative process of his sweeping economic agenda, Biden’s approval rating has suffered a downfall. In the same interview, Biden denied calling the US response to the Omicron variant surge as a “failure”. However, he said that he regretted not ordering millions of free rapid tests of Coronavirus for US citizens ‘two months ago”.

“Nothing’s been good enough,” he conceded. “But look, look where we are. When last Christmas, we were in a situation where we had significantly fewer vaccinated — people vaccinated, emergency rooms were filled. You had serious backups in hospitals that were causing great difficulties.” Biden on Tuesday announced plans of ordering 500 million at-home tests and giving them out for free next month. He said that his administration should have been better prepared to tackle highly transmissible variants. 

US President said, “I wish I had thought about ordering” the tests “two months ago” and added, “I don’t think it’s a failure” while talking about US response. He said, “I think it’s — you could argue that we should have known a year ago, six months ago, two months ago, a month ago.”

(IMAGE: AP)