US first lady Jill Biden gave one of the clearest indications yet that President Joe Biden will run for a second term, telling The Associated Press in an exclusive interview on Friday that there’s “pretty much” nothing left to do but figure out the time and place for the announcement.
“He says he’s not done,” the first lady said in the interview conducted from Nairobi, the second and final stop of her five-day trip to Africa. “He’s not finished what he’s started. And that’s what’s important.”
She added, “How many times does he have to say it for you to believe it?”
The President has been cautious thus far in confirming he plans to seek reelection. He said after the recent midterm elections that he is targeting early this year for an official announcement.
Earlier this month, Biden said in a TV interview he “probably” intends to seek reelection in 2024 but has yet to make the decision "firmly."
Biden aides have said an announcement is likely to come in April, after the first fundraising quarter ends, which is around the time that former President Barack Obama officially launched his reelection campaign.
Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain hinted as he left office that Biden will be running for a second term in 2024, even though Biden has yet to confirm that himself.
“As I did in 1988, 2008 and 2020, I look forward to being on your side when you run for president in 2024,” Klain said at a ceremony in the White House marking the transition from Klain to incoming chief of staff Jeff Zients.
The first lady on Friday brushed off the question about whether she has the deciding vote on whether the president runs for reelection.
“Of course he’ll listen to me, because we’re a married couple,” she said. But, she added later, “he makes up his own mind, believe me.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)