Even as President Biden’s approval rating has seen to dip to around 36% these last few months, the White House confirmed Joe Biden’s intent to run for re-election in 2024. Amid Democrat confusion about Republican victories in Virginia and the narrow Democratic victory in New Jersey, White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, confirmed that Joe Biden intends to run for reelection. This statement comes, following reports that he is “keen to quash rumors of a one-term presidency.” With intra-party fighting over key aspects of Biden’s agenda as well as supply chain issues that are all contributing to the “steady downward trend in the president’s ratings,” it’s no surprise that Biden is eager to put the rumors to rest.
Looking back at Biden’s promises for his first hundred days in office, topics like Covid-19 protocols, immigration reform, the economy, environmental reform, racial equity, etc., were widely spoken of. With COVID-19, President Biden proposed to assemble a coronavirus task force, spoke of a push for immediate coronavirus legislation and the release of a vaccine distribution plan, as well as a promise to rejoin the World Health Organization, all of which he accomplished. A $1.9 trillion relief bill was passed along party lines, containing money for direct payments, enhanced unemployment benefits and rental assistance, but fell short on the provisions that included the raising of minimum wage and loan forgiveness.
Speaking of the economy, however, President Biden promised to reverse Trump’s corporate tax cut, which has not been accomplished yet. With regards to the environment, President Biden promised to organize a “climate world summit” that urged countries to follow the US’s plan to reduce emissions. However, making the U.S an international leader on climate change is one of Biden’s so-called “murkier” promises with the US signing and dropping out of multiple international climate agreements. Two weeks ago, the COP26, the United Nations global climate summit in Glasgow was deemed “a failure,” by environmental activist Greta Thunberg. She says it has turned into a PR event, “where leaders are giving beautiful speeches and announcing fancy commitments.” Along with many citizens not being impressed by the effort, neither apparently, did President Joe Biden who was seen dozing off during the presentations.
A whole other slew of problems is seen when taking a look back at President Biden’s promises regarding legislation for racial inequality. While he fulfilled his promise to introduce legislation that would make it easier to become a citizen for illegal immigrants in the US, his promises to make DACA permanent and put an end to family separation at the U.S Mexico border were not fulfilled. The talks regarding suspending Trump’s wall remain complicated and numerous, the entire problem in limbo right now as the reviews to halt construction remain. However, wins for Biden include ending Trump’s executive order banning travelers from some Muslim-majority countries as well as signing an executive order establishing a task force that focuses on reuniting children with parents separated at the border.
Taking a look back at President Biden’s previous promises, as well as successes and failures are all in preparation to see his platform as he intends to run for reelection. By keeping in mind what he has promised to accomplish and what he has not, the platform he runs on in 2024 will obviously be compared and criticized. However, it is interesting to note that Biden did not automatically endorse his VP Kamala Harris when asked if she would run. Saying, “I don’t have any predictions of whether she will run, when she will run. I will leave that to her,” many are taking note of the fact that reports have come out in the past weeks of a strained relationship between the President and Vice President— even as many believe that VP Harris was instrumental to President Biden’s victory.
