Why Biden’s Scandal Won’t Hurt Him

The White House, CC BY 3.0 US , via Wikimedia Commons

President Joe Biden’s team doesn’t seem to be perturbed by the recent controversy surrounding the President; instead, according to sources familiar with the planning of Biden’s 2024 Reelection campaign, it’s still all systems go for the former President.

Despite finding himself embroiled in a scandal surrounding the discovery of several batches of classified documents, the source, who spoke anonymously, confirmed that Biden’s 2024 reelection announcement is “still very much in the works.”

Other sources have indicated that Biden will first signal his intention to run again in 2024 after the State of the Union Address on February 7, with a formal announcement expected for the Spring.

According to these sources, the classified document controversy — and the subsequent appointment of a special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland — hasn’t dampened these plans.

Instead, Biden’s allies believe the document discovery won’t feature in any significant capacity on voters’ radar. These allies argue that issues like the economy will trump will overshadow the technicalities surrounding the document discovery.

Furthermore, they assert that Biden will focus on his wins — like reducing unemployment and taming skyrocketing inflation — in the coming months, talking points that distract from his unauthorized storage of Obama administration classified documentation.

Yet some Democratic strategists are concerned that the discoveries will overwhelm Biden’s campaign, with one veteran strategist asserting the scandal would “consume a lot of oxygen” and has the potential to overtake the campaign.

Since the discovery became public knowledge, the White House has spent much of its time briefing the press on the discoveries. On Tuesday (January 17), in an attempt to go on the offensive, the White House held a 45-minute press call with reporters. But that also devolved into more questions going unanswered about the growing scandal.