Biden Opens the Door to Not Running for Re-Election, Telling 60 Minutes It ‘Remains to Be Seen’

Screenshot via CBS.

President Joe Biden opened the door to retiring after one term in the White House, telling 60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley that he had not yet made a decision.

Biden is the oldest American president ever elected, 78 years old at his inauguration in Jan. 2021, and whether or not he should run for re-election in 2024 has been heavily debated. He continues to poll well against his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, but has also struggled with his own popularity amid inflation woes.

In an interview taped earlier this week that aired Sunday evening, Pelley asked Biden about his plans for the 2024 election.

“Sir, are you committed to running again, or are there certain conditions that have to be right?” asked Pelley.

Biden cited the federal election laws as imposing “a whole range of things that come into play,” certain “requirements that I have to change and move and do,” if he were to expressly say he was running again.

Accordingly, “in terms of election laws,” Biden continued, “it’s much too early to make that kind of decision.”

The president described himself as “a great respecter of fate” and said he was focused on “doing my job.” He would “make a judgment on what to do,” he said “within the timeframe that makes sense,” defining that as after the November midterm elections and “going into next year.”

“You say that it’s much too early to make that decision,” said Pelley. “I take it the decision has not been made in your own head?”

“Look, my intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again,” Biden responded. “But it’s just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen.”

In a later segment, Pelley asked Biden about the criticism that he was too old to be president, and what he thought when he heard such comments.

Biden quipped that he was in “pretty good shape, huh?” and then urged people to “Watch me.”

“Watch me,” he said. “And honest to God, that’s all I think. Watch me.” He cited his schedule, and meetings with NATO allies as an example, saying that these other world leaders were not saying to him, “Wait a minute, how — how old are you?”

“I respect the fact that people would say, you know, ‘You’re old,'” he added, “but I think it relates to how much energy you have and whether or not the job you’re doing is one consistent with what any person of any age would be able to do.”

“How would you say your mental focus is?” asked Pelley.

“Oh, it’s focused,” said Biden, acknowledging that he had “trouble even mentioning, even saying to myself” how many years old he was.

“I no more think of myself as being as old as I am than fly. I mean, it’s just not — I haven’t observed anything in terms of — there’s not things I don’t do now that I did before, whether it’s physical, or mental, or anything else.”

Watch the video clips above, via CBS.