It was revealed in early October that President Joe Biden told Rev. Al Sharpton that he would run for reelection in the 2024 election. The news was apparently broken in a private meeting. Biden has been known to look to Al Sharpton for advice in the past. He asked for endorsement in 2019, just before he revealed he would run in the 2020 presidential election. The news of Biden’s talk with Sharpton was apparently revealed by a clergyman to his staffers.
Biden has affirmed in the past that he intended to run again but has continuously denied that the decision has formally been made. If Biden truly has decided to run, an extremely interesting 2024 election could ensue. Former president Donald Trump has also alluded to running in the 2024 presidential election. If both Donald Trump and Joe Biden do run, and win their primaries, a scene strikingly similar to the 2020 election could unfold. The 2020 election was extremely tense with exceptional polarization and a tiresomely long wait for results. Much of these feelings were accentuated by the global pandemic but the candidates also made a huge contribution to them.
Former president Donald Trump’s victory against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election was a massive upset. His voters love him, however, the people who didn’t vote for him tend to despise him. Trump’s grand and unfiltered personality made him almost like a reality star in the election.
President Joe Biden is known to be quite subdued and moderate, in his personality and his policy. His neutralism makes him a bit of an outcast, too right wing for many Democrats and too left wing for many Republicans. His moderate beliefs, however, gave him an edge over Trump in the 2020 election. Many independents would rather vote for a moderate Democrat than a more extreme Republican.
The clashing of these two opposite personalities in the 2020 election created an extremely chaotic political environment. This environment eventually climaxed at the January 6th insurrection following President Biden’s victory. Considering the events of the last presidential election, a second round of Trump v. Biden would surely be interesting.