Jill Biden and the rest of the family ‘fully support’ Joe Biden seeking a second term as president as the wait continues for him to formally announce his re-election bid.
With Donald Trump already in the race and other Republicans making noise, Biden has the luxury of taking office and, after the Democrats avoided a red wave in the midterm elections, a new vote of confidence from his own party on his ability to lead.
He has said he intends to run again, noting that only his family or a surprising development, such as a health crisis, would dissuade him from running.
On the family front, Jill Biden, who is the first and last voice her husband hears on any given day, is on board. She is described as the most influential adviser in her orbit.
“As the President has said, he intends to run for re-election and that is something that both Dr. Biden and the family fully support. He has been ready from the beginning and has given me his full support,” a senior Biden adviser told DailyMail.com.
Jill Biden and the rest of the family ‘fully support’ Joe Biden seeking a second term; above, the first lady watches the president speak at the lighting of the national Christmas tree in November.
Jill Biden is described as the most influential voice in her husband’s orbit, surpassing the first couple at a White House reception in early December.
Biden, 71, hasn’t always been interested in being first lady.
She was not on board in 2004 when her husband was considering an offer. When he met with her advisers at her Wilmington home to discuss the matter, she walked through the meeting with the word “No” written on her stomach.
But he has come to terms with the idea of four more years in the White House, being described as “all-in.”
His words carry weight in the administration, where he keeps a close eye on President Biden. She is often seen on Truman’s balcony of the White House, watching him disembark from Marine One on the South Lawn after a trip (she once even had a glass of wine in hand).
Often, she is the hand on his elbow, guiding Biden when he takes too long chatting with supporters or reporters or is simply running late.
She joined her last press conference. after it was reported she privately told her aides they should have interfered in her previous one, where she fielded questions from reporters for nearly two hours. And those included tough questions about her son Hunter’s business dealings and her own cognitive health.
She sat in a chair on the sidelines at the November event, watching him speak.
Jill Biden often stands on Truman’s balcony (as she is above in September 2021) watching her husband disembark from Marine One on the South Lawn
President Joe Biden and Jill Biden this month: the couple have been married for 45 years
Jill Biden is often the hand on his elbow, guiding Joe Biden when he takes too long chatting with supporters or reporters or is simply running late, as she did in October 2020.
Jill Biden has forged her own path as First Lady. She continues her work by teaching English at a Northern Virginia community college, becoming the first modern first lady to work outside of administration.
But she balances that with her commitment to her husband’s political career.
In the 2022 midterm elections, she was a tour de force on the campaign trail, a popular surrogate in high demand for Democrats to come to their state. She crisscrossed the country, making stops in Wisconsin, Arizona, Texas and other areas, including states her husband avoided.
And the first lady told French President Emmanuel Macron at a state dinner earlier this month that she and her husband are ready for the 2024 campaign, the New York Times informed. Then she, President Biden and Macron toasted her second offer.
President Biden has teased that he will make his announcement in early 2023.
“I guess it will be early next year when we make that judgment,” he told a post-election news conference at the White House last month.
And he said he doesn’t feel any pressure to hurry, even though Trump has already announced he will run again.
‘My judgment to run when I announce, if I do announce, my intention is for me to run again, but I highly respect fate and ultimately it’s a family decision. I think everyone wants me to run, but we’re going to have discussions about it,” Biden said. “And I’m not in any rush one way or the other to make that judgment, today, tomorrow, whenever, no matter what my predecessor does.”
It’s unclear when that announcement will arrive. Biden has a busy first quarter for 2023: giving his State of the Union address, working on his budget, and will visit Mexico in early January as part of a meeting of North American leaders. Furthermore, the situation in Ukraine remains volatile and the country is still bearing the effects of the COVID pandemic.
And that timeline shows part of the reason he hasn’t announced: His aides repeatedly say he’s focused on running the country. In other words, in being president.
Joe and Jill Biden arrive at the ceremony for the president to sign the Respect Marriage Act into law
Jill Biden was active on the campaign trail in the 2022 midterm elections; above, she campaigns with Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona (she won re-election)
The entire Biden family supports a second term in the White House, overtaking the president with his son Hunter, his wife Melissa Cohen and their son Beau.
Biden has also said that he hasn’t formally announced it because he doesn’t want to trigger certain election regulations that come with being an outspoken candidate. For example, he would have hampered his ability to raise money for Democrats in the midterms and then go back to the same donors for his own re-election campaign.
If he follows the lead of President Barack Obama, the announcement could come as early as April. Obama announced his candidacy for a second term on April 4, 2011.
But the signs that he’s running are in place.
Biden recently advocated for South Carolina – the state that gave him the Democratic nomination in 2020 – the first in the process that decides the party’s presidential candidate, a move that would benefit him in the 2024 elections.
He also made his first post-midterm visits to Arizona and Michigan, two states that will be crucial to his own reelection.
Some Democrats have raised concerns about his age – Biden is 80 – and have called for the next generation of leaders to take over.
The president, who will be 86 if he wins and completes a second term, has dismissed any age-related questions, saying his doctor has no health problems.
Furthermore, many of his Democratic critics were won over after the Republicans failed to win a massive majority in the House and the Democrats kept the Senate in the November election.