Joe Biden 2024 presidential campaign

Joe Biden, the 46th and incumbent president of the United States, announced his candidacy for re-election for a second presidential term on April 25, 2023, with Vice President Kamala Harris as his running mate. He suspended the campaign on July 21, 2024.

Biden made protecting American democracy a central focus of his campaign,[7][8] along with restoring the federal right to abortion following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade.[9] He also intended to increase funding for border patrol and security,[9][10] and increase funding for law enforcement coupled with police reform.[11] Biden promised to support, protect and expand LGBT rights[9] and frequently touted his previous passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Chips and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act's landmark[12][13] investment to combat climate change.[14]

Biden made strengthening U.S. alliances a key goal of his foreign policy[15] and promised to continue supporting Ukraine following the Russian invasion of the country and Israel following their war with Hamas, describing them as "vital" to U.S. national security interests. Biden promised to continue efforts to tackle gun violence and defend the Affordable Care Act following comments from Donald Trump suggesting he would repeal the law.[16][9] Biden proposed increasing taxes on the wealthy through a "billionaire minimum income tax" to reduce the deficit and fund social services for the poor.[17][9]

Biden's trade policy was described as rejecting traditional neoliberal economic policy and the Washington Consensus that resulted in the offshoring of manufacturing and thus resulted in increased populist backlash.[18] Biden proposed and enacted targeted tariffs against strategic Chinese industries to protect manufacturing jobs and counter China's technological and military ambitions.[19] On March 12, 2024, Biden became the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party after clinching enough delegates in Georgia, and did not face any significant primary challengers.[20]

Congressmen declare their endorsement

This was Biden's fourth presidential campaign, and was his first as the incumbent.^[36] His first campaign was in the 1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries. While he was initially considered one of the strongest candidates in that race, a scandal broke soon thereafter when news reports uncovered plagiarism by Biden in law school records and in speeches. This revelation led to his withdrawal from the race in September 1987.^[37]

He made a second attempt during the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Like his first presidential bid, Biden failed to garner a sufficient level of endorsements and support. He withdrew from the race after his poor performance in the Iowa caucus on January 3, 2008. He was eventually chosen to be the running mate of the party's nominee Barack Obama. Following the Obama/Biden ticket's victory in the general election, Biden was sworn in as vice president of the United States on January 20, 2009. He ran again as Obama's running mate in 2012 and was re-elected vice president, being sworn in for second term on January 20, 2013, and serving until January 20, 2017.

Biden's third presidential bid came during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries where he focused his plans as the candidate with the best chance of defeating then-president Donald Trump in the general election. Politico reported in 2018 that Biden had rejected a proposition to commit to serving only one term as president.^[38]

In May 2021, Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain indicated the Biden administration was "anticipating a bruising general election matchup" against Donald Trump, who had served as the 45th president of the United States and had been defeated by Biden in the 2020 presidential election, if the latter followed through on a bid to return to the presidency.^[39] In November 2021, against a backdrop of declining approval ratings, the Biden White House reiterated Biden's intent to run for reelection.^[40] In a March 2022 press conference, when asked about the possibility that Trump could be his opponent in 2024, Biden replied, "I'd be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me".^[41]

In a PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll released on April 25, 2023 – the day Biden announced his reelection campaign – his approval rating was just 41%, with a disapproval rating of 50%.^[42] Several polls both before and after Biden's campaign announcement have shown that most Democrats want the party to nominate someone other than Biden for president in the 2024 election.^{[43][44][45][needs update]}

On April 25, 2023, Biden announced he was running for re-election. It was also announced that Julie Chávez Rodriguez would serve as campaign manager and Quentin Fulks would be principal deputy campaign manager. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Jim Clyburn, Chris Coons, Tammy Duckworth, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Gretchen Whitmer were named national campaign co-chairs. Biden's campaign was launched four years to the day after the start of his 2020 presidential campaign.^[46] Politico reported that: "Biden is considering Michael Tyler (the longtime Democratic operative) for the role of communications director in his 2024 campaign".^[47]

Biden formally kicked off his reelection campaign on June 17, 2023, at a union rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[48]

The Biden campaign created an account on Truth Social in October 2023.^[49] They announced on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that they had created the account on Truth Social because they found the idea "very funny".^[50] Numerous observers characterised this as an exercise by the Biden campaign in trolling Donald Trump.^[51][52]

In May 2024, the Biden campaign posted a listing for a full-time Content and Meme Pages Partner Manager. The job description stated, "In this role, you will initiate and manage day-to-day operations in engaging the internet's top content and meme pages". The Meme Manager will be a first for a presidential campaign.^[53]

Karen Ruth Bass (/ˈbæs/; born October 3, 1953) is an American politician, social worker and former physician assistant who has served as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles since 2022.^[1] A member of the Democratic Party, Bass previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2022 and in the California State Assembly from 2004 to 2010, serving as speaker during her final Assembly term.

A Los Angeles native, Bass attended college at California State University, Dominguez Hills and the University of Southern California. She spent her career as a physician assistant and community activist before seeking public office. Before her election to Congress, Bass represented the 47th district in the California State Assembly for six years. In 2008, she was elected to serve as the 67th Speaker of the California State Assembly, becoming the first African-American woman in United States history to serve as a speaker of a state legislative body.^[2][3]

Bass was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. She represented California's 33rd congressional district during her first term, though redistricting moved her to the 37th district in 2012. She chaired the Congressional Black Caucus during the 116th Congress.^[4][5][6]

Bass won the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral election, beginning her term on December 12.^[7] She is the first woman to serve as mayor of Los Angeles^[8] and the second Black person to serve in that capacity (the first was Tom Bradley).^[9][10] During her early tenure as mayor, she made major announcements about facilitating affordable housing construction to alleviate the Los Angeles housing crisis. However, she quickly reversed herself and imposed restrictions on affordable housing construction in Los Angeles.^[11][12]

Bass was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Wilhelmina (née Duckett) and DeWitt Talmadge Bass.^[13] Her father was a postal letter carrier and her mother was a homemaker.^[14] She was raised in the Venice and Fairfax neighborhoods of Los Angeles and graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School in 1971.^[15]

Witnessing the civil rights movement on television with her father as a child sparked her interest in community activism. While in middle school, Bass began volunteering for Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaign.^[16] In the mid-1970s she was an organizer for the Venceremos Brigade, a pro-Cuban group that organized trips by Americans to Cuba.^[17] She visited Cuba eight times in the 1970s.^[17][18]

She went on to study philosophy at San Diego State University from 1971 to 1973, and graduated from the USC Keck School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program in 1982. She then earned a bachelor of science degree in health sciences from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 1990.^[19][20] She also received her master's degree in social work from the University of Southern California in 2015.

In the 1980s, she worked as an emergency medicine physician assistant and a clinical instructor at the Keck School of Medicine of USC Physician Assistant Program.^[19][21] In the late 1980s, Bass and other local community organizers founded Community Coalition^[20][22]

In 2004, Bass was elected to represent California's 47th Assembly district. At her inauguration, she became the only African-American woman serving in the state legislature.^[23] She was reelected in 2006 and 2008 before her term limit expired. Bass served the cities and communities of Culver City, West Los Angeles, Westwood, Cheviot Hills, Leimert Park, Baldwin Hills, View Park-Windsor Hills, Ladera Heights, the Crenshaw District, Little Ethiopia and portions of Koreatown and South Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]}

Speaker Fabian Núñez appointed Bass California State Assembly majority whip for the 2005–06 legislative session and majority floor leader for the 2007–08 legislative session.^[2] During her term as majority whip, Bass was vice chair of the Legislative Black Caucus. As vice chair, she commissioned the first ever "State of Black California" report.^[24][25]

Núñez termed out of the Assembly at the end of the 2007–08 session, leaving Bass as the next-highest-ranking Democrat in the Assembly. After consolidating the support of a majority of legislators, including some who had previously been planning to run for the speakership themselves, Bass was elected speaker on February 28, 2008, and sworn in on May 13, 2008.^[26]

As speaker, Bass promoted numerous laws to improve the state's child welfare system.^[27] During her first year, she ushered through expansion of Healthy Families Insurance Coverage to prevent children from going without health insurance and worked to eliminate bureaucratic impediments to the certification of small businesses. She also secured more than $2.3 million to help revitalize the historic Vision Theater in Los Angeles and more than $600 million for Los Angeles Unified School District.^[28] Bass worked with the governor and initiated the California Commission on the 21st-Century Economy to reform California's tax code. She also fought to repeal the California Citizens Redistricting Commission.^[29]

Bass became speaker during a period of severe economic turmoil.^[30] Negotiations over a spending plan to address a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall began the day Bass was sworn in.^[30] She was part of the negotiations that resulted in a comprehensive deal to close most of a $42 billion shortfall.^[31]

In June 2009, Bass drew criticism from conservative commentators for statements she made during an interview with Los Angeles Times reporter Patt Morrison in response to a question about how conservative talk radio affected the Assembly's efforts to pass a state budget.^[32] Referencing the condemnation from conservative talk radio hosts that three Republicans experienced after they voted for a Democrat-sponsored plan to create revenue by raising taxes,^[32] Bass described the pressures Republican lawmakers face:

The Republicans were essentially threatened and terrorized against voting for revenue. Now [some] are facing recalls. They operate under a terrorist threat: "You vote for revenue and your career is over." I don't know why we allow that kind of terrorism to exist. I guess it's about free speech, but it's extremely unfair.^[33]

Bass, Dave Cogdill, Darrell Steinberg, and Michael Villines received the 2010 Profile in Courage Award for their leadership in the budget negotiations and their efforts to address the severe financial crisis.^[31]