Courts Firefighters’ Union Ahead Of California Fundraising Trip

Topline

President Joe Biden courted a firefighters’ union and early 2020 endorser on Monday and plans to fundraise in California next week—the latest signs the president is setting the stage for a re-election bid, as the campaign for the GOP 2024 nomination also heats up.

President Joe Biden prepares to walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., Sunday, March … [+] 5, 2023, to commemorate the 58th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” a landmark event of the civil rights movement. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Key Facts

Biden delivered a speech on Monday at a legislative conference hosted by the International Association of Firefighters, the first major union to endorse him in his 2020 campaign for the presidency.

IAF President Edward Kelly stopped short of endorsing Biden, but called him “the greatest president firefighters have ever had in this county,” while the group noted on Twitter that Biden is the first president in 25 years to attend its annual legislative conference.

In the address, Biden urged Congress to pass legislation sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar and (D-Minn.) and Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.) that would offer benefits via the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program passed last year to families of firefighters who die of cancer.

He also renewed his call to establish a minimum tax rate for the highest earning Americans, because “no billionaire should be paying a lower tax rate than a firefighter,” Biden said.

The speech is the latest sign that Biden is preparing to launch a re-election bid: He delivered a voting rights speech in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday and is expected to fundraise next week in the San Diego area, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Politico reported.

The Democratic National Committee is also taking steps to convene an advisory board that would serve as spokespeople for Biden’s 2024 campaign and could include Democratic Govs. Josh Shapiro (Penn.) and Phil Murphy (N.J.) as well as New York City Mayor Eric Adams, multiple outlets reported.

Key Background

Biden is reportedly setting the stage for an April re-election announcement that comes as his approval rating hovers at a relatively low 41%, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken just before his 2024 State of the Union address last month. Concerns about Biden’s age (at 80, he is the oldest president in history) have dogged his presidency—a worry he called “totally legitimate” in his recent interview with ABC’s David Muir. Only one Democratic candidate, author and longshot 2020 candidate Marianne Williamson, has announced a bid for the party’s nomination next year. On the Republican side, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and investment firm manager Vivek Ramaswamy announced challenges to former President Donald Trump’s third presidential bid last month. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have also indicated they are considering running for the GOP nomination.

Crucial Quote

“My intention . . . has been from the beginning to run, but there’s too many other things I have to finish in the near-term before I start a campaign,” Biden told Muir in a February 24 interview.

Tangent

First Lady Jill Biden gave one of the clearest indications yet last month, when she told CNN on February 25 she’s “all for” her husband running for a second term. “Not in my book,” she said when asked if there was any chance he would opt out of the 2024 race. She told the Associated Press a day earlier there wasn’t “any reason” to think Biden wouldn’t run for re-election. “We’ve heard him say several times that it is his intention to run,” she said.

What To Watch For

Biden is expected to unveil his annual budget this week. In previewing the plan in his State of the Union speech last month, Biden said it aims to reduce the federal deficit by $2 trillion over the next 10 years without reducing spending on Social Security and Medicare. House Republicans will also release a budget proposal in the coming months—in which GOP leadership has also pledged to maintain entitlement spending—ahead of the fiscal year deadline at the end of September.