President Biden announces 2024 reelection bid

President Joe Biden officially announced his bid for a second term Tuesday, naming Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a campaign co-chair and Quentin Fulks, a former top political adviser to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the principal deputy campaign manager.

With no fanfare, the 2024 reelection launch of the Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris campaign for a second term came in a three-minute video released at little after 5 a.m. Chicago time

In it, Biden sets himself up for a replay run against former President Donald Trump, though he does not mention him by name. Biden takes aim at Make America Great Again Republican extremists for threatening the nation’s democracy and uses a slogan he unveiled at this 2023 State of the Union address: “Let’s Finish the Job.”

Another main theme used in Biden’s 2020 run is in play again, that Biden remains in a battle “for the soul of the nation.”

Duckworth is one of seven campaign co-chairs. She was on the shortlist to be Biden’s vice presidential pick in 2020, is a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and got the ball rolling to land the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Fulks managed the 2022 reelection campaign for Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga. He was the deputy campaign manager for Pritzker’s 2018 governor bid, going on to be the senior political adviser for the governor. He also managed Pritzker’s unsuccessful “Vote Yes for Fairness” drive to pass a graduated income tax in Illinois.

Julie Chávez Rodríguez will serve as campaign manager, stepping down from her White House job running intergovernmental affairs, making her a key link to other elected and appointed officials across the nation. Mayor Lori Lightfoot met with her at the White House when she was in Washington last week.

Biden, who casts himself as a “regular Joe,” on Tuesday delivered remarks to North America’s Building Trades Unions Legislative Conference. Pritzker also addressed the same conference.

Polls show Trump is the front-runner for the GOP nomination despite being under indictment and facing a variety of legal woes. The MAGA extremist movement he founded remains a strong, influential part of the GOP political landscape, and Biden tackles that head-on in his video, titled “Freedom.”

Biden in his speeches and remarks has been taking aim at “MAGA extremists.”

“That’s been the work of my first term: To fight for our democracy. This shouldn’t be a red or blue issue, to protect our rights, to make sure that everyone in this country is treated equally, and that everyone is given a fair shot at making it.

“But around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms away. Cutting Social Security that you’ve paid for your entire life while cutting taxes for the very wealthy. Dictating what health care decisions women can make, banning books and telling people who they can love. All while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote.

“When I ran for president four years ago, 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.

“I know what I want the answer to be and I think you do too. This is not a time to be complacent.”

Harris in a statement said, “Republicans running for president want to take our country backward. We will not let that happen. Just like we did in 2020, we must come together to fight for our democracy, continue to make progress and make sure all Americans can get ahead and thrive. Joe and I look forward to finishing the job, winning this battle for the soul of the nation and serving the American people for four more years in the White House.”