EWAN PALMER
Joe Biden is more than likely to be the Democratic candidate for the 2024 election as the president dismisses suggestions that he could pull out of the race, bookmakers have said.Biden has frequently hit back at those who say he should not run for president again next year, as numerous polls suggest Democratic voters are concerned about the age of the 80-year-old incumbent, as well as his far from ideal approval ratings.
On Sunday, Franklin Foer, the author of The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden's White House and the Struggle for America's Future, told NBC News' Meet the Press that it "wouldn't be a total shock" if Biden drops out of the presidential race by the end of the year.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a member of the Kennedy family dynasty, is the only serious Democratic primary challenger but way behind in the polls to Biden. With no other potential candidates such as Vice President Kamala Harris or California Governor Gavin Newsom willing to throw their hat into the ring, the 2024 nomination is sure to be Biden's if he remains in the race as expected.
According to Betfair, Biden is 1/2 odds-on favorite to win the Democratic nomination, with Newsom—who confirmed in November 2022 that he will not run and is backing Biden to win in 2024—in second place at 17/2.
"Joe Biden remains the clear odds-on favorite at 1/2 to be the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election, despite his biographer claiming it wouldn't be a 'shock' if he pulled out of the race by the end of the year," Betfair spokesman Sam Rosbottom told Newsweek.
"Even though Biden's odds to be the Democratic nominee have slightly drifted to 1/2 from 2/5 over the past few months, it is clear the punters have complete faith in the president to run for a second term."
A spokesperson for Irish bookmaker Paddy Power added to Newsweek that Biden has only seen a "very slight drift" in his odds to be the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election, meaning bet makers "clearly have more faith in the 80-year-old than biographer Franklin Foer."
According to Paddy Power, Biden's odds of winning the nomination moved from 3/10 (76.9 percent probability) out to 1/3 (75 percent) towards the end of last August, before drifting again out to 4/11 (73.3 percent) by the end of last month.
Speaking at a Labor Day event in Philadelphia, Biden appeared to dismiss the suggestions from Foer and others that he is too old to run for a second term in office.
"I tell you what, someone said, 'You know what? That Biden, he's getting old, man,'" Biden said. "Well, guess what? The only thing that comes with age is a little bit of wisdom. I've been doing this longer than anybody, and guess what? I'm going to continue to do it, with your help."
During his interview on Meet the Press, Foer suggested that the president's religious beliefs may also play a part in Biden's decision to leave the 2024 campaign.
"When he talks about his life, he uses this word 'fate' constantly. Joe Biden is a very religious guy, and fate is a word loaded with religious meaning," Foer said. "When I hear that, to me it's the ellipses in the sentence when he's talking about his own future that I account for in thinking about his calculus."
Elsewhere, polls suggest that the presumptive 2024 presidential race between Biden and Donald Trump is currently a dead heat, despite the legal issues facing the Republican former president.
A recent YouGov poll for The Economist of 1,500 people, conducted between August 26-29, found that 44 percent of potential voters would pick Trump as their preferred choice for president, with 43 percent opting for Biden.
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