By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden and his team may announce his re-election campaign by video next week, according to a source familiar with the matter on Thursday.
An announcement on Tuesday by Biden, 80, would coincide with the anniversary of his 2020 campaign launch the year prior, the source said, asking not to be identified.
Biden aides have ramped up planning for the long-expected launch of the president’s bid for a second, four-year term in 2024. Last week, Biden said he would launch his campaign “relatively soon.”
He has long said he intends to run again but the lack of a formal announcement had seeded doubt among supporters about whether one of the oldest world leaders would or should commit to another four-year term. He would be 86 at the end of a second term.
In recent weeks, Biden has laid out the likely themes of a re-election bid in political speeches, secured a doctor’s note that he is “fit for duty,” told Democrats to re-order the party’s primary calendar in a manner favoring his nomination and picked Chicago as the city where he would ostensibly formally become the nominee next year.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicut; writing by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Josie Kao)
