Biden’s One-term Presidency: Will we see Kamala vs. Trump in 2024?

“I view myself as a transition candidate…You got to get more people on the bench that are ready to go in — ‘Put me in, coach, I’m ready to play.’ Well, there’s a lot of people that are ready to play, women and men.”

(Joe Biden in June 2020)

 

By winning the electoral college vote by a clear majority, having no faithless electors, Joe Biden’s win of the 2020 Presidential election is now official. Soon Mike Pence will announce Biden’s victory on January 6 in front of the newly elected Congress.

Out of his many other achievements, Joe Biden will be the oldest President in United States history. By his inauguration day, Joe Biden will be 78 years old, and by the time his first term is over in 2024, he will be 82. 

The Constitution does not impose any maximum age limit to become a president. However, it is not a bad choice to step down when you are over 80 spend the rest of your life with your friends and family. 

There is a prevailing school of thought which suggests that Joe Biden is likely to step down after serving one term as the president, leaving the White House for the others.

Donald Trump has signaled that he will run again in 2024 for the presidency. Considering the influence that Trump exercises on the Republican party, he is likely to win the Republican nomination. 

However, it must be noted that the journey of Donald Trump may not be as easy as it seems to be. Many Republicans are pulling up their socks to launch a campaign for the 2024 presidential election. 

If Joe Biden retires before the 2024 elections, Kamala Harris is expected to be the next Democratic nominee. But the nomination of Kamala Harris will also not be an easy one, as she can face resistance from the likes of Bernie Sanders and the progressives, especially Alexandria Ocasio Cortez.

If both Trump and Harris win their respective nominations, we will see a Kamala Harris vs. Trump presidential election in 2024. 

This contest, if it happens, is guaranteed to be the promising one. However, Joe Biden’s sister Valerie Biden Owens has busted this type of news, as she said that Joe Biden would run for president in 2024. 

While both of these are the competing school of thought, nothing conclusive can be said at this time if Biden will run again in 2024 or not. 

He may drive his final decision on the events that are yet to happen.

Let’s explore the possibility of a Kamala Harris vs. Trump election in 2024, and how the political situation of the United States would look like if this happens.

 

Trump’s Slippery Road to Face Kamala in the 2024 Election

Trump’s road to the 2024 presidential election will be full of ups and downs. It is just a matter of time that he will be the primary focus of the federal agencies, owing to the number of legal challenges he is facing right now. Currently, he is immune just because the Constitution of the United States prohibits inquiries against the sitting president.

The legal challenges waiting for Donald Trump can consume his upcoming years, leaving him with little time for his presidential campaign.

More importantly, the legal challenges of President Trump are likely to increase once he leaves office. 

The Biden-Harris administration is likely to grant federal agencies access to documents needed to conduct a fair investigation against tax frauds and other crimes committed by the president.

However, political pundits believe that Donald Trump will live through the challenges and will be able to pursue his 2024 presidential campaign despite a lot of financial and legal hurdles.

Apart from these legal challenges, President Donald Trump will also face resistance within the Republican circles, as his authoritarian policies have already pushed the party on the brink of destruction. 

Once he leaves office, a rebellion against him is evident, creating chaos inside the Republican camps. 

During his four years of presidency, most Republicans perceived Trump as God and never dared to speak against him.

But after his removal from the White House, he will have to face a lot of competing campaigns as many prominent Republicans are eyeing the 2024 presidential race. Some of the notable names include Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of the State Mike Pompeo, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, President Donald Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr., and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.  

However, Donald Trump is looking forward to combating all of them by announcing his 2024 presidential campaign at Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021.

One of the most significant advantages for Donald Trump is that he has a strong Republican base, which is ready to support him in any case. 

According to the latest surveys, 54% of Republicans opined that they would vote for Trump in 2024. Similarly, 71% of Republican voters believe that Donald Trump is in the best interest of the United States.

On the other hand, 12 percent of the Republicans supported Vice President Mike Pence, 8 percent Donald Trump Jr., while Mitt Romney, Ted Cruz, and Nikki Haley got four percent votes. The lowest percentage of the vote went to Senator Marco Rubio, as only two percent of the Republicans said they would vote for him if he runs in the 2024 presidential race. 

It means that Donald Trump has a fair shot at winning the Republican nomination for the 2024 elections. The strongest competitor of Donald Trump is expected to be the former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who Trump can easily tackle by giving her the offer to be his running mate.   

Not only this, but Trump will also exploit the rhetoric of election fraud for the next four years to keep the Trump base engaged and united. 

It is an understood fact that Trump is the face of the Republican Party now. All of the Republicans have now adjusted themselves to the new Republican standards of Trumpism. 

Therefore, some Republicans can try to save him from the legal cases for the survival of the party and to win the 2024 presidential race. 

Kamala Harris Drive for Kamala Harris vs. Trump in 2024:

Kamala Harris’s road to 2024 will be an easy one, in case Biden retires. The rumors are floating that President-elect Joe Biden will announce his retirement in mid-2023, after which Kamala Harris will be the apparent heir. 

The unprecedented popularity which Kamala Harris received in the recent days for being the first woman VP of the United States evinces that she can win the Democratic nomination in times to come.

Her mammoth experience as the top prosecutor has helped her in shaping her personality. If she successfully inspires the masses in the upcoming four years, she will have a clear chance to be the Democrats’ nominee for the 2024 presidential race.

Many perceive Bernie Sanders as a threat to Harris’s nomination. However, he will be even older than Joe Biden, so he may also back out from the presidential race. Similarly, she can also face tough competition from Hillary Clinton, who is also expected to bid for the 2024 ticket.

Other candidates such as Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez are anticipated to participate in the Democrat primaries. Yet, they are unlikely to succeed due to the popularity which Kamala Harris will have by 2024.

Joe Biden has not picked any of his Democratic primary rivals to serve in any key position in his cabinet so far, which creates easiness for Kamala Harris.  

Another possibility is that Harris may choose Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear as her running mate to capitalize on his ability to turn the deep Red States like South Carolina into the blue. 

According to a wagering site named Odds Shark, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have significant chances to win the 2024 race. President Donald Trump holds the third position after President-elect Joe Biden. A similar trend was seen in the UK-based Ladbrokes sportsbook. 

These odds are not necessarily true, yet they show public perception. It appears that people want to see Kamala Harris to be the first-ever woman president in the history of the country. 

 

Joe Biden’s One-term Presidency: In View of Biden

While Joe Biden may have referred to him as a “transition candidate,” he did not signal directly that he will retire before the 2024 elections.

The question for the second term for Joe Biden was in speculation even before the presidential elections. While campaigning in June 2020, when asked if he will retire after the first term, he replied that,

 

“I don’t have plans on one term… I’m not even there yet.”

(Joe Biden before the election)

 

While this statement of Joe Biden was before the election, his sister Valerie Biden Owens has also confirmed that he will seek a second term in 2024. 

Recently, Valerie Biden Owens was in an interview on HBO. When the host asked her if Biden will run again in 2024, she replied, “Yes. absolutely.”

This suggests that Biden has no ambition to leave the presidency just after one term. 

 

Harris Perception of Facing Trump in 2024:  Big Laughter

A video was shared on social media in which Vice President-elect Kamala Harris burst into laughter when a journalist asked her if she would be ready to face President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. 

This happened when Harris was shopping with her husband in downtown DC. Many social media users shared the video, saying that it would be great to see Kamala Harris against Donald Trump in 2024. 

 

Conclusion

As Biden is all set to assume the presidency, the speculations have started to flourish that he may only be a one-term president.

Many people have already started to assume that Kamala Harris vs. Trump will be a reality in the 2024 presidential race.

However, concluding anything will just be a sweeping statement. The decision of Joe Biden to retire or not is likely to be made according to the situation in 2024. He may decide not to run due to health issues at that time, and he may get motivated enough not to leave the most powerful seat in the world.

Declaring anything now will just be a sweeping statement, as Biden himself and his sister Valerie have busted the prevailing theories.