pResident Joe Biden’s path to re-election in 2024 is shaping up to be an uphill battle as the president works to overcome several obstacles in his personal and political life.
Biden announced his re-election campaign on April 25, becoming the Democratic front-runner against several Republican rivals lining up to retake the White House. However, the multiple controversies that have emerged since Biden took office could hurt his chances of securing another four years in office.
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Here are four controversies affecting the president as he prepares for re-election.
President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, exit Air Force One, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, New York. The Bidens are in Syracuse to visit relatives after Michael’s death. Hunter, the brother of the president’s first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden.
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Hunter Biden’s business dealings
Since taking the majority in 2022, House Republicans have pledged to investigate any evidence of wrongdoing or wrongdoing by the Biden administration and the president’s family, particularly Hunter Biden.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has delved into Hunter Biden’s finances and foreign connections. So far, the committee has said it has evidence that Hunter Biden’s business dealings and the board’s position at Burisma, a foreign company, may have affected national security and influenced US foreign relations.
Comer also said the committee would hold the Biden family accountable for an alleged “Biden family influence peddling scheme.” The president claimed that at least nine members of the Biden family had accepted payments from a company affiliated with China and possibly also from the Chinese Community Party.
Democrats have criticized Republicans for going after the president and his family, putting House GOP members under a microscope. However, Comer has insisted that these investigations will be successful. If they are, it could seriously affect Biden’s re-election chances.
The building that housed office space for President Joe Biden’s former high school, the Penn Biden Center, is seen at the corner of Constitution and Louisiana Avenue NW in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. Potentially classified documents were found on November 2. , 2022, in a “locked cabinet” in the office, according to the president’s special counsel Richard Sauber. The National Archives and Records Administration took custody of the documents the next day after being notified by the White House Counsel’s office.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Classified documents
Several classified documents were found in Biden’s possession last year, transforming what began as an isolated incident with Trump into a recurring nightmare for Washington politicians.
The documents were discovered in Biden’s office at the Penn Biden Center and the president’s Delaware residence in November and December, respectively. Republicans focused on the location of the documents, including the garage at Biden’s home, claiming it was a national security risk with the number of visitors coming in and out of the building.
The documents opened Biden up to GOP attacks that a sitting president had classified documents in his possession, compared to a former president like Trump, who claims he transported belongings to his home after leaving the White House and that the documents were taken by mistake. or declassified. However, a poll conducted shortly after classified documents were discovered in the possession of the two men showed that Trump’s handling of classified documents was considered “more serious” than Biden’s.
Special counsels Robert Kur and Jack Smith are investigating the Biden and Trump classified documents scandal, respectively.
President Joe Biden speaks on student loan debt relief at Delaware State University, Friday, Oct. 21, 2022.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Quicksand Student Loan Forgiveness Plan
One of Biden’s main promises heading into 2020, and for re-election in 2024, is to forgive student loans for college students. Last year he unveiled his plan to eliminate up to $10,000 in federal student loans for those with annual incomes of up to $125,000 and up to $20,000 written off for those who received Pell Grants during their school
However, six GOP-led states filed court challenges, forcing the Supreme Court to halt the program before two cases. The high court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the executive action by the end of June.
If Biden’s plan is scrapped, it could become a major Republican target to demonstrate that the president could not keep the promises he made on the campaign trail.
President Joe Biden speaks with members of the media before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Saturday, May 13, 2023, en route to the Air Force Base of Dover, in Dover, Del. Biden is spending the weekend at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Age in 2024
Age will likely become a factor in the 2024 election, as Biden would be 86 by the end of his second term if he wins re-election.
Republicans have focused on his age and mental competence as reasons for Biden not to hold the presidency. More than 60 House Republicans recently sent Biden a letter demanding he take a mental competency test or withdraw his 2024 bid.
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Biden underwent a physical in February, and White House physician Kevin O’Connor determined that Biden was a “healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old man” fit for the presidency. However, Republicans believe a mental test is necessary, citing instances where the president stumbles, forgets names or slurs his words.
Age has been a talking point for both sides of the aisle, as Trump is 76 and would be 82 at the end of 2024 if he takes the White House again. Both Republicans and Democrats have shared concerns about the age of top candidates, and voters could see the age of their future nominee as a reason to vote for rising stars within the parties.