The AP interview: Biden is ready to run, says the US first lady

NAIROBI, Kenya — US first lady Jill Biden gave one of the clearest signals yet that President Joe Biden will run for a second term, telling The Associated Press in an exclusive interview on Friday that “there’s a lot” left to do but figure out when and where. . for the announcement.

While Biden has long said he intends to seek re-election, he has yet to make it official and has struggled to deflect questions about whether he is too old to continue serving as president. Biden would be 86 at the end of his second term.

“He says he’s not done yet,” the first lady said in Nairobi, the second and final stop of her five-day trip to Africa. “He didn’t finish what he started. And that’s what’s important.”

He added: “How many times do you have to say it to believe it?”

Biden aides said the announcement would likely come in April, after the end of the first fundraising quarter, when President Barack Obama formally launched his re-election campaign.

The first lady has long been described as a key figure in Biden’s career as he plans his future.

“Because I’m his wife,” he laughed.

But he brushed aside the question of whether he would decide whether the president would run for re-election.

“Of course he listens to me because we’re a married couple,” she said. But later he added: “He decides, believe me.”

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Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report from Washington.

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EDITOR’S NOTE – Darlene Superville has covered the White House and first ladies since 2009 and co-authored the 2022 biography of Jill Biden with AP managing editor Julie Pace.