Biden says running for reelection wasn’t ‘automatic decision’

President Biden on Wednesday said that his decision to run for reelection in 2024 was not an automatic one, adding that it’s legitimate to bring up his age as he seeks another term.

“It wasn’t an automatic decision about running again,” Biden said at a campaign reception in New York, N.Y. “Not because I didn’t think there was more to do, but because I thought to myself…four more years means six more years. It’s a long time.”

The president, who is 80 years old, added that “it’s a legitimate thing to raise the question of age.”

Biden would be 86 years old at the end of a second term and his age has already been brought up by political rivals in the election. Republican candidate Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) warned recently that a vote for Biden is a vote for Vice President Harris because Biden’s unlikely to “make it” to 86.

Biden on Wednesday, talking to a room of donors in New York, said that his longtime adviser Ted Kaufman recently told him, “this campaign’s going to be tough.”

“It could be a pretty ugly campaign, maybe, coming on,” added Kaufman, who replaced Biden in the Senate when he became vice president.

Biden’s comments came just ahead of former President Trump’s CNN town hall. Trump is currently leading his opponents in the Republican presidential primary and a Washington Post-ABC News poll this week found Biden trailing Trump in a head-to-head match.

Kaufman also noted, according to Biden, that the president is already the oldest president is American history.  Biden, though, argued that his age brings wisdom to the job.

“I think what I’ve been able to bring [to this job], and will continue to bring is a little bit of wisdom,” the president said.

Biden two weeks ago launched his reelection bid, which was rolled out with an early morning video.

The president’s trip to New York involved two campaign receptions and remarks in Valhalla about the debt limit earlier in the day.