Joe Biden held his first press conference since taking office. Among other things, the President of the United States announced that he was going to run again for the presidency in 2024 . Biden is the oldest US leader at the time of his election, and such speeches sound strange long before the next election. The expert helped us decipher the meaning of Biden’s cryptic message.
“My interpretation is as follows,” comments Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada. – First of all, Biden’s message is addressed to the wider American public as such. This press conference was long-awaited, it was in the centre of attention of all the American media. Biden actually told them: “I am still awake, I have a lot of plans, and do not think that I will retire early.” From this point of view, the words of the 46th President of the United States can be called a duty statement for the press and voters.
But from my point of view, the main addressee of the message was still the top of the Democratic Party – and its key sponsors. Apparently, in narrow circles of Democrats, the issue of Biden’s legal capacity is quite acute, although he remains a topic taboo in the public field.
According to some party leaders, Biden has already fulfilled his role: he kicked Trump out of the White House, and this is his mission exhausted. In such a situation, you can put Vice President Kamala Harris or other people who will really begin to steer American politics at the top.
However, the announcement of intent to run in four years’ time is not the only highlight at the press conference. Biden has announced a course to create a one-party system in America over the next four years. For this it is necessary to carry out a reform of the election campaign; for this it is necessary to get rid of the filibuster (this is the name of the political tactics of the parliamentary minority to obstruct bills by prolonging disputes about the subject of the bill and “burying” this subject in a large number of special cases. – Auth. ). Biden called the practice of the filibuster “the legacy of the Jim Crow era” (the unofficial name for the laws on racial segregation in some US states from 1890-1964), and this is a very powerful statement.
Biden is ready to go for radical reforms, and thus he announced his need for the party. He made it clear that he sees his function in establishing the principle of one-party rule. And those party elites who are cynical about Biden, believing that “the Moor has done his job – the Moor can leave,” may think that he will do a lot more.
The fact is that the reform of electoral rights, the creation of the foundations of one-party rule, which can cause a very serious internal political crisis in America, brings us back to the problem of unpopular changes. In such a situation, the reformer does his job, then goes aside, everyone curses him, but it will be impossible to go back.
This may be the most important thing that was announced at this press conference. Moreover, even in the very speech of Biden, it was mentioned that by 2024 the Republicans risk ceasing to be a party of national importance or at least lose their power.
To summarize all of the above, the expert summed up, the main message from Biden was: “I am still needed”. Because it is one thing to carry out some kind of economic or immigration reforms, but to build such a system is a Herculean task or, in the American style, mission impossible. Biden identified it – and thereby created a situation of his own need. “
