The Democratic Party has largely coalesced around President Joe Biden since he launched his reelection campaign in April, even though, in the lead-up to his announcement, questions were swirling, mostly due to his age, about whether or not the 80-year-old would run for reelection in 2024.
In May, in an effort to show the breadth and diversity of those behind the president’s reelection bid, Biden’s team announced an advisory committee of 50 Democratic leaders who support his 2024 campaign, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy, and next-generation leaders like Florida representative Maxwell Frost, the first Gen Z’er in Congress, and California representative Sara Jacobs, one of the youngest women in Congress.
Despite this wide coalition of Democrats who support him, President Biden already has a couple of challengers too. Though their campaigns may be considered long shots, his opponents argue that the country is “heading in a bad direction” and it’s time for change.
Here’s what you need to know about the 2024 Democratic presidential candidates.
Related: Republican Presidential Candidates 2024: Who Is Running?
Incumbent President Joe Biden
Biden is seeking a second term as commander in chief. When he announced his reelection campaign with a made-for-social-media vertical video in April, he sought to highlight the stark difference between himself and the leading GOP candidates. The video features snippets of footage from the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and paints the president as a clear alternative to the Trump wing of the Republican Party. “Personal freedom is fundamental,” Biden says at the start of the video, before warning that “MAGA extremists are lining up to take on those bedrock freedoms.” He references issues such as health care and bodily autonomy for women, banned books, LGBTQ+ issues, and voting rights. “When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America," Biden says in the video. "And we still are.”
Last session, Biden worked with Congress to pass bills like the Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CHIPS & Science Act. This year, he’s leaned into priority issues for young people by creating a White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and establishing an American Climate Corps that will create an estimated 20,000 jobs for young people off the bat. Though the Supreme Court blocked his student loan forgiveness plan, Biden has maintained a steady commitment to erasing debt through administration programs, including an additional $9 billion in relief just days after student loan repayments started in October.
In September, Biden also became the first sitting president to join a picket line, with striking United Auto Workers in Michigan. The president argues that he needs a second term to “finish the job.”
Writer and Speaker Marianne Williamson
The self-help author and motivational speaker ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 2020, coming up short and dropping out before the Iowa caucuses, but she’s running again on the premise that “this country is on the wrong track.” The 70-year-old launched her campaign in March at Union Station in Washington, DC, with slogans like “A New Beginning” and “Disrupt the System.” “The status quo, ladies and gentlemen and everyone else, will not disrupt itself….” she said in a speech. "That’s our job.”
Williamson, who has criticized the media for considering establishment candidates as automatic “shoo-in[s],” recently told journalist Piers Morgan that Biden should debate his 2024 primary challengers. As for her policy priorities, Williamson’s campaign website lists the creation of a “US Department of Children & Youth” as an area of focus, along with “the working economy,” “climate action,” and “reproductive justice.” She has also proposed “an economic bill of rights.”
Williamson is an outspoken union supporter and also visited the United Auto Workers strike in Michigan.
Lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The notorious anti-vaxxer and environmental lawyer launched his campaign in April, saying he wanted to “end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power.” A member of the iconic Kennedy family, RFK Jr. is the son of the late Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own run for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Though RFK Jr. has peddled conspiracy theories about vaccines for years, his rhetoric caught the attention of right-wing COVID-19 deniers and gained notoriety during the pandemic. Last year, Kennedy was criticized after seeking to draw inaccurate similarities between the United States’ enforcement of COVID vaccine policies and conditions in Nazi Germany. His false claims have propelled his own family, including his wife, actor Cheryl Hines, to speak out against him. At his campaign launch in April, Kennedy acknowledged that his bid for the Democratic nomination has drawn opposition from family members who are not supporting his run.
He told CNN’s Michael Smerconish that Biden has been his “close family friend” for years and that his decision to run against him is not personal, but rather stems from a belief that “our country’s headed in a bad direction.” Kennedy said that he and Biden “just differ really dramatically on issues.”
Though his campaign is considered a long shot by some, Kennedy appears to be doing better in the polls than previously anticipated. He has support from some noteworthy celebrities and athletes, including football star Aaron Rogers (who has also spread vaccine misinformation), Clueless star Alicia Silverstone, comedian Rob Schneider, and actor Woody Harrelson. Boxer and internet personality Jake Paul has helped Kennedy reach younger audiences on TikTok.
Kennedy was initially running as a Democrat, but during a “major announcement” in Philadelphia on October 9, he said he would be running as an Independent. “My intention is to spoil it for both of them,” he said, referring to Trump and Biden.
Following the announcement, his siblings issued a statement that denounced his candidacy: “The decision of our brother Bobby to run as a third-party candidate against Joe Biden is dangerous to our country,” Rory Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, and Joseph P Kennedy II wrote. “Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment. Today’s announcement is deeply saddening for us. We denounce his candidacy and believe it to be perilous for our country.”
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