President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign and officials are banking on March’s State of the Union address to help reset his 2024 bid as he trails former President Donald Trump in the polls, according to Axios.
Less than a year out from the 2024 election, Biden is trailing former President Donald Trump in hypothetical matchups across several key swing states. As many of Biden’s top allies worry about the president’s reelection chances, officials see his State of the Union address as a turning point that could help stunt talks about the 81-year-old’s fitness for office, Axios reported.
“Everyone around him is well aware — well aware — of the need to jack this campaign up,” a source close to Biden told Axios. “The only way to deal with the negative aftershocks of the special counsel’s report [slamming Biden’s age] is for the president to be out there, to be visible — to be strong of presence and strong of voice.”
Officials close to the president are hoping to recreate Biden’s 2023 State of the Union address, which they believe successfully showed the president’s agility as he slammed Republicans and discussed Social Security, sources told Axios. Ahead of the March address, officials close to Biden will reportedly devote their time to fine-tuning the president’s speech and even help with physical preparation.
While concerns of Biden’s fitness have continued to take the spotlight following special counsel Robert Hur’s report, Biden’s campaign seems optimistic that things will turn around as morale among staff grows, Axios reported. (RELATED: KJP Reads From Prepared List Of Times Republicans Misspoke To Argue Joe Biden Is Mentally Fit)
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the reported death of Alexei Navalny from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 16, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Ahead of the address, the president is considering taking a big move to address the border crisis through executive action, sources told Axios.
The chatter around the weight of the State of the Union comes after Trump posted his largest lead against Biden, ahead by 4.3 points on Jan. 26, according to the RealClearPolitics (RCP) average. Biden hasn’t led Trump in the RCP average since September 2023.
At least 76% of American voters have concerns about Biden’s age and health going into the 2024 election, according to a Feb. 6 NBC poll. Fifty-four percent of Democrats are worried about Biden’s fitness for a second term, the same poll showed.
“I think that [Biden’s] health and age kind of get in the way of his ability to be a good president of the United States,” a female Democratic poll respondent from Wisconsin, who voted for Biden in 2020, told NBC News.