Washington: US President Joe Biden, fresh after his Ireland trip where he traced his ancestry, has firmed up his resolve for the 2024 White House run up against his familiar adversary Republican Donald Trump, now in a rabbit hole with his recent indictment, and a powerful opponent Florida Governor Ron Desantis, the GOP backed favourite.
The emotional journey to Belfast in Ireland led Biden to the priest, who did the last rites for his son, who died of brain cancer in 2015 and literally broke down. The journey into the past, some of which was littered with bitter memories of his son Beau Biden, “reinforced” his decision to run for re-election in 2024, media reports said.
The US President’s “sense of optimism” about the future, “reinforced” his determination over an expected run for a second term in office, the UK Newspaper ‘Independent’ said in an analysis.
No formal decision has been taken yet and no formal announcement has yet been made by Biden about his expected rerun to the White House in 2024. The 80-year-old veteran politician, who served for eight years as Vice President to Bill Clinton has a wealth of experience as politician statesman from Delaware, from where he used to commute in a train to Washington every day to attend congress, a total of some six hours of train journey.
He showed his commitment to both his party and life in politics despite suffering personal tragedies when his first wife and his child son perished in a car crash.
The Presidents’ decision to rerun is expected to be made relatively soon, the British paper said. Even American newspapers like the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fox TV and Wall Street Journal and New York Post are all speculating a rerun from Biden.
Trump’s favourite tabloid New York post, owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch, dumped the ex-president soon after the November Midterms in 2022 after his dismal failure in returning his candidates to the house.
The Post took various jibes with cartoons of Trump calling him the Florida Man and Humpty Trumpty. Florida man was a sarcastic note deriding Trump as the most popular Florida man when actually it was governor Ron Desatis who showed extraordinary results in the November midterms.
President Biden said: “I told you my plan is to run again,” earlier, as he prepared to fly home following a four-day state trip to the island of Ireland. “But the trip here just reinforced my sense of optimism about what can be done.”
Biden’s comments literally come to quell feelings among partymen and the GOP that the 80-year-old President is a doubtful candidate for the White House in 2024 due to his reportedly declining cognitive functions, he would be 82 in 2024, against Trump 78, inability to remember names, calling people by wrong names, showing he was not in full control of his mental faculties. But die-hard supporters deny rumours on Biden affirming he is fully in control and makes logical, rational decisions for a person of his age.
Niki Haley, a tough female runner for the 2024 GOP primaries as a former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador, wanted to bring in a rule that people above 70 should not contest for high position in politics, but ran into a barrage of criticism from her senior party leaders in the Republican party who cited examples of several congressmen and senators doing wonderful work despite their age.
The Ireland trip was called a “Home Coming” by media in the US and “Gold Dust” by British newspapers after his return to Washington. The President said he was deeply proud of his Irish ancestry declaring that America and Ireland are “united by history, heritage and hope”. A leading political commentator said: “Biden is as British as he is Irish”.
Biden’s comments appealed to his voters in Mayo county to dub him Mayo Joe. He told the 27,000-strong crowd of the American Dream as he recalled his ancestors’ struggles fleeing famine-stricken Ireland in the mid-19th century for prosperity in the US.
While the trip across the Atlantic was ostensibly to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, UK politics took a back seat on Biden’s itinerary, British newspapers said. During an 18-hour overlay in Belfast, most of which was spent asleep, the President said Northern Ireland must capitalise on the Good Friday Agreement to ensure “the enemies of peace will not prevail”.
Biden said a return to power-sharing in Belfast would bring peace to Northern Ireland which was a priority for both Democrats and Republicans in Washington.
The Ireland trip is largely perceived by the US media as a strong political move for him to prepare to launch his presidential bid. US demographics reveal that one in every 10 of Americans claim Irish ancestry. Irish Americans can be found in over 3,500 counties across the US.
(IANS)
