President Joe Biden released a short video Tuesday to officially announced he is running for a second term. While the news was expected — no incumbent president has chosen not to seek a second full term since LBJ in 1968 — it still sparked a reaction from both sides of the aisle.
“Let’s finish this job,” Biden says in the video. “I know we can because this is the United States of America. There’s nothing, simply nothing, we cannot do if we do it together.”
Notably absent from the 350-word transcript of Biden’s announcement: Any mention of jobs, inflation, or the economy in general. Polls show Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy.
Former President Donald Trump, the GOP’s current frontrunner, was less than impressed with Biden’s announcement.
“You could take the five worst presidents in American history, and put them together, and they would not have done the damage Joe Biden has done to our nation in just a few short years,” Trump said in a statement. “Not even close.”
Biden’s message got a warm reception from local Democrats.
“The Chester County Democratic Committee is proud to support the reelection of President Biden,” said Chair Charlotte Valyo. “President Biden has made impressive achievements during his first term, passing the Infrastructure and Chips Bills which are bringing jobs back to the United States and improving our towns and cities. President Biden is also a staunch supporter of a Woman’s Right to Choose and a vocal opponent of the efforts to re-write history and ban books in our schools. We cannot wait to see what he will accomplish next term.”
Delaware County Democratic Committee chair Colleen Guiney said she was “grateful to President Biden and Vice-President Harris for their willingness to continue to serve our nation,” said Colleen Guiney, chair Delaware County Democratic Committee. “President Biden has worked to strengthen our economy, protect our rights and preserve our environment despite many obstacles. He will safeguard our safety and freedom in the face of extremism and disinformation. I look forward to supporting the Biden-Harris ticket as they seek to uplift our great nation.”
Not surprisingly, DelVal Republicans are more critical of the current president.
“From the botched withdrawal in Afghanistan to his failed economic policies, Joe Biden’s agenda has made America less safe and less prosperous,” said Montgomery County Republican Chairman Christian Nascimento. “He says he wants to restore the soul of America but pushes far-left programs that hurt the middle class. That is why a majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don’t want him to run again.
“The only silver lining is that assuming he survives the primary challenge from RFK, Jr., 2024 will be the opportunity to replace him with a common-sense conservative administration that can correct the course that he has put the country on,” Nascimento added.
Dave McCormick narrowly lost the GOP U.S. Senate primary in 2022 and is widely believed to be planning to challenge Democrat Sen. Bob Casey next year. “Joe Biden’s policies have failed the American people and our great commonwealth. Historic inflation, skyrocketing fentanyl deaths due to open borders, high homicide rates in our cities — Biden’s agenda has been a disaster for our country, and our adversaries are watching and exploiting our weaknesses,” McCormick said.
“We need a president who will fight for the American people every day, leading us through the issues facing our country today and preserving our status as the world’s superpower,” said McCormick, author of the new book “Superpower in Peril.”
And state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin), the GOP nominee for governor in 2022, said, “I remember with much levity how concerned the media was when Ronald Reagan was running for reelection in 1984. The left-wing media was concerned about his fitness in that he would be 79 years old when finishing his second term. The irony is that he was a year younger than when Biden began his first term.
“Clearly, Biden is suffering from cognitive decline and is not fit for office. We have seen evidence of this. But more importantly, our enemies and rivals have seen it, and this is putting our national security at risk,” said Mastriano, a former Army colonel who holds a Ph.D. in history and has written three books.
While Mastriano may also be considering a run for the U.S. Senate against Casey, he lost to Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro by nearly 15 points.
The April Franklin & Marshall College poll finds 46 percent of the respondents say they are “worse off” than a year ago. The same poll found just 27 percent believed that Biden is doing an “excellent” or “good” job.
However, in a race against Trump, Biden would win narrowly, 36 to 35 percent, the F&M poll revealed.
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