US President Joe Biden officially announces 2024 election bid

US President Joe Biden formally announced his 2024 election bid on Tuesday, while asking voters to give him more time to "finish the job" he began when he was sworn in to office.

Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, is betting his first-term legislative achievements and more than 50 years of experience in Washington will top voters' concerns over his age.  According to the Associated Press (AP), Biden, therefore, urged voters to set aside their concerns about extending the run of America’s oldest president for another four years.

In a three-minute video, Biden promised to heal the "soul of the nation" amid the turbulent presidency of Donald Trump — a goal that has remained elusive. The video begins with a one-word pitch: Freedom.

"I said we are in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are...The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer," he was quoted by the AP as saying.

This year's campaign for the US presidential election might be a bit challenging for Biden as the leader will "have to balance his job leading the country with his efforts to sway voters in his favour", the BBC reported.

According to the report, Biden, during his campaign, is likely to point to his accomplishments from the past two years, including major infrastructure and climate laws, as evidence he is up to the task.

The campaign trail this time might be different different for another reason. In the last US election that happened in 2020, the president did much of his campaigning virtually from his home in Delaware due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, voter might witness large events and campaign stops around the country.

Buoyed by the midterm results, Biden plans to continue to cast all Republicans as embracing what he calls “ultra-MAGA” politics — a reference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again" slogan — regardless of whether his predecessor ends up on the 2024 ballot. He’s spent the last several months road-testing campaign themes, including painting Republicans as fighting for tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy while trying to cut social safety net benefits relied on by everyday Americans and roll back access to abortion services.

Biden, speaking over brief video clips and photographs of key moments in his presidency, snapshots of diverse Americans and flashes of his outspoken Republican foes, including Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, exhorted supporters that “this is our moment” to “defend democracy. Stand up for our personal freedoms. Stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights.”

Biden also plans to point to his work over the past two years shoring up American alliances, leading a global coalition to support Ukraine’s defenses against Russia’s invasion and returning the US to the Paris climate accord. But public support in the U.S. for Ukraine has softened in recent months, and some voters question the tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance flowing to Kyiv.