‘I’m going to do it again’: Al Sharpton says Biden told him he will seek a second term
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Biden ‘told Al Sharpton he will run for a second term in 2024 at a private White House meeting last month’
- Biden’s reported comments came at the end of a September 2 meeting at the White House
- He met with Sharpton and other prominent civil rights leaders
- An official at Sharpton’s National Action Network has said Biden told the nonprofit’s leader, ‘I’m going to do it again’
- Biden has hinted that he is running for a second term, but is not unequivocal yet
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Reverend Al Sharpton was told by Joe Biden last month that he will seek a second term as president during a private meeting at the White House last month, reports say.
Later that day, Sharpton — who is also an MSNBC host — briefed staff at his Washington civil rights organization National Action Network, with a nonprofit official now recounting the details of the conversation.
“I’m going to do it again,” the National Action Network official claimed, Biden said, posing for a photo in the Roosevelt Room with Reverend Sharpton. ‘I’m going.’
His reported comments on Sept. 2 came at the end of a meeting in the White House with some of the country’s most prominent civil rights leaders.
There are mixed reports as to whether Biden is seeking a second term in the Oval Office. While his allies have said he will seek re-election, he has not stated unequivocally that he intends to do so.
Reverend Al Sharpton was told by Joe Biden last month that he will seek a second term as president during a private meeting at the White House last month, reports say. Pictured: US President Joe Biden greets Rev. Al Sharpton after making remarks at the “United We Stand” summit on countering hate-fuelled violence, at the White House, Sept. 15
In an interview last month, Biden defended his eligibility for the office but declined to say officially whether he plans to seek a new term. “My intention, as I said to begin with, is for me to run again,” Biden told 60 Minutes host Scott Pelley.
“But it’s just an intention. Is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen,” the president added.
The interview marked the first time Biden had any real doubts about the potential for reelection in 2024 — with his previous comments pointing to any intent to run for a two-term presidency.
National Action Network founder and president, Rev. Al Sharpton, left, and National Urban League president and CEO Marc Morial, right, walk out of the West Wing to speak to members of the media after meeting President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington, Sept. 2
Days earlier, his wife and First Lady Jill Biden said she had not spoken to her husband about the prospect of him running for a second term. Asked on NBC’s Today Show if they’d talked about running again in 2024, Biden replied, “Not yet.”
His reported conversation with Sharpton is perhaps the clearest sign yet that Biden intends to fight it out to hold the position for eight years, rather than stepping aside for a new Democratic candidate for the 2024 election.
Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, where Biden defeated Trump at the ballot box, black voters were key to his comeback in the Democratic primaries.
The demographics helped him win South Carolina after failing to take first place in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. But three days later, Biden’s massive support among black voters saw him take an impressive lead on Super Tuesday.
When it came to the election, the black vote also helped bring Biden to the White House, with the New York Times reporting that he received about 87 percent.