Biden has consistently said he is a “big respecter of fate” and that events could interfere with his decision-making. But Biden’s determination Sunday that it “remains to be seen” whether he will run amounts to new uncertainty on a question that will be front and center for Democrats after this year’s midterm elections. Behind the scenes and among Democratic circles, the certainty of a Biden re-election bid was less certain. Biden’s advisers expect he will have another discussion with his family over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and hope he will be able to announce a decision early in the new year. But Biden publicly acknowledging that he is undecided — as his wife, first lady Jill Biden, did in an interview last week — raises new questions in the 2024 race. Biden first cited election laws as the reason he can’t announce a decision. “I’m a big respecter of fate. And so, what I’m doing is I’m doing my job. I’m going to do that job. And within the time frame that makes sense after this next election cycle here, going into next year, you judge what to do,” Biden told CBS. Asked about criticism that he is unfit for the job at his age, Biden told his critics: “Watch me.” “I respect the fact that people would say, you know, ‘You’re old.’ And — but I think it has to do with how much energy you have and whether or not the work you’re doing is consistent with what any person of any age could do,” Biden said, adding that he’s mentally focused on the job. He hasn’t noticed anything in terms of “things that I don’t do now that I used to do, whether it’s physical, or mental, or whatever,” Biden added. Asked about his recent legislative successes, Biden joked, “How did an old man do that?” When asked earlier about the candidacy, Biden gave a firmer answer. “The answer is yes.’ “My plan is to run for re-election. That’s my expectation,” Biden said during his first press conference in March 2021. “The president has said repeatedly that he intends to run in 2024, and I’ll have to leave it at that,” spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre told CNN’s Don Lemon in June.
