Biden says he plans on running, edging closer to a 2024 announcement

President Biden edged closer Monday to announcing a 2024 reelection bid, saying in a television interview that he plans to run again.

“I plan on running, Al, but we’re not prepared to announce it yet,” Biden told Al Roker of NBC’s “Today” show during an interview at the White House ahead of the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn.

Roker backed into the question of Biden’s plans by asking how many more Easter Egg Rolls Biden plans to oversee.

“At least three or four more,” Biden said, laughing. “Maybe five, maybe six.”

Biden, 80, has said for months that “it’s my intention to run,” and advisers have started taking steps to prepare for an expected announcement on a date to be determined.

“The reason I’m not making a judgment about formally running or not running, once I make that judgment, a whole series of regulations kick in and I have to be — I treat myself as a candidate from that moment on,” Biden told MSNBC in October. “I have not made that formal decision, but it’s my intention — my intention to run again. And we have time to make that decision.”

He has used similar constructions in other interviews.

Biden’s team has long eyed President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign announcement in April 2011 as a benchmark for its own reelection planning, though it has declined to set a timeline for his formal entry into the race.

In recent months, the urgency to meet that date has faded, as fellow Democrats have failed to signal any significant challenge to his nomination.

In planning for the reelection launch, Biden aides say they are balancing competing priorities, according to people familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The earlier the launch, the sooner they can start raising money. But the later the launch, the more time they can keep Biden exclusively in the role of president of the United States.

Biden himself still has a host of decisions to make about his campaign structure and organization, and he has continued to meet with his senior staff about politics, including this week. Some aides now predict a launch later in the spring or in summer, but they caution that the plans are in flux.