“As for Biden’s announcement about his possible re-election, I think he was absolutely correct to do so,” Putin said. “Because if election preparations were already beginning in America, the management of the country would suffer significantly,” he continued. “The president of the US doesn’t need my feedback, but I think he acted absolutely correctly.”
Reports began circulating earlier this month that Biden was planning a bid for a second term, and the White House confirmed his intention to run in 2024 in a statement last week. He had previously indicated during a news conference in March that he expected to run again.
As a candidate in the 2019 election, Biden refused to pledge to serve only one term, but he said he wasn’t necessarily committed to another run if he was elected in 2020.
At 79 years old, Biden is already the oldest US president in history. If elected to a second term, he would be 82 before its start. Polls have shown his approval rating dropping over the course of his first year in office, from 53% to 43%, according to a calculation by FiveThirtyEight.
In the same address on Tuesday, the Russian president, whose current term also finishes in 2024, said he wasn’t yet sure whether he would run again. “According to the constitution, I have the right to run for a new term,” he commented. “Whether I’ll do it or not – I haven’t decided myself. But the fact that I have this right already makes the domestic situation more stable.”
Earlier this year, Putin signed into law amendments to the Russian constitution that would allow him to run for two more six-year terms, following a nationwide vote.
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