Biden Seeks Democrat Loyalty As Hillary Clinton 2024 Rumors Circulate – Writing in the New York Times this week, Jonathan Martin and Zolan Kanno-Youngs revealed how President Joe Biden not only intends to run again in 2024, but is actively laying the groundwork for his campaign. From restocking his campaign operations in battleground states to building resources at the Democratic National Committee, President Biden appears to have abandoned his promise of being a “transitional” candidate and wants more time to prove himself in the White House.
With the president’s approval ratings plummeting to an all-time low this month – substantially lower than former President Trump’s approval ratings at the same point in his presidency – gaining the support he needs to win the party nomination in 2024 is becoming an increasingly difficult task.
For that reason alone, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that rumors of a 2024 Hillary Clinton run are once again circulating, and the president is reportedly “irked” and “irritated” that Democrats don’t universally support him running again at age 81 in two and a half years.
The president is also reportedly desperately working to gain the loyalty he needs within the party to secure his position as the nominee next time around.
It should normally go without question that the incumbent Democratic president gets the nomination of his party, but in today’s turbulent political environment, nobody can say for sure that he will.
Democrats Not Fully On Board
President Biden doesn’t have the support of some of the most recognizable names within his party. Opposition to Biden’s planned 2024 campaign isn’t strictly confined to the moderate or progressive wings of his party, either.
During a recent interview on CNN, progressive New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez refused to commit to supporting the president next time around.
“I think, if the President has a vision, then that’s something certainly we’re all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes,” AOC told CNN’s Dana Bash earlier this month.
“Should he run again, I think that I…you know…I think it’s, it’s, we’ll take a look at it.”
AOC also refused to rule out a 2024 presidential bid of her own for 2024 when asked by late night TV host Stephen Colbert this week.
Moderate West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has expressed similar hesitance in confirming his support for the president in the next election, too. When asked by the New York Times whether he would back the president again, he brushed off the question entirely.
“We’re just trying to do our daily thing, brother,” Manchin told a reporter. “Trying to do what we got to do that’s good for the country.”
Without universal support from any wing of his party, the president faces an uphill battle to gain the support he needs to receive the nomination again in 2024. With that in mind, it’s no wonder that the rumors of another Clinton presidential campaign have resurfaced.
Will Clinton Run?
On Tuesday, CNN editor-at-large Chris Cillizza reported how the “whispers of Hillary Clinton 2024 have started.” The rumors have, in fact, been around for some time – but Cillizza noted how more big names are talking about the possibility of Hillary Clinton challenging the incumbent president for a third shot at the White House.
When pressed about a possible 2024 run during an interview on CBS on Tuesday, the former secretary of state seemed to dismiss the question more than she did the actual idea of running.
CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King asked if there was “any scenario” in which Clinton thought about jumping back into politics.
“No, but I miss it, I miss it,” Clinton said, prompting King to flat out ask her if she would consider running in 2024.
Clinton said that she could not “imagine it,” to which King noted that it was “not a no.”
Also on Tuesday, the same day he published the CNN piece about Clinton 2024 rumors, CNN editor Chris Cillizza was roasted on social media for promoting another Clinton campaign.
“Now is her moment,” Cillizza tweeted, to much derision – although, his comment was a quote from conservative writer John Ellis who claimed recently that the overturning of Roe v. Wade was the perfect moment for Clinton to make a political comeback.
Clinton may be wise not to run, however. Mark Penn, Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign chief strategist, told Fox News that she shouldn’t consider another shot at the top office.
“I don’t think the country wants to go back to candidates who have run before, whether that is Hillary, Biden or Trump,” Penn told Fox. “Clinton’s national ratings are below Trump’s at this point.”
And, in truth, she probably isn’t thinking about it.
The former first lady is presumably very aware that she was not a popular candidate in 2016 and that her approval ratings today are well below former President Donald Trump. The idea of a rematch with Trump in 2024 may be tempting, and a victory against Trump would certainly be a remedy for her damaged ego, but making new excuses for another loss to the Trump campaign will be difficult now that her Russian collusion claims have been proven categorically false.
That’s good news for President Biden, but unless he achieves his goal of establishing loyalty within his party, he could still face a threat from either the progressive or moderate wings of his party. Unless inflation is brought to heel in the next year and his approval ratings radically turn around, Biden could find himself in trouble – if not just from a challenger in his party, but from an insurgent Trump campaign.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
