(The Center Square) – President Joe Biden announced he is running for reelection early Tuesday, and former President Donald Trump responded with the first shot in what could be a presidential campaign rematch.
“You could take the five worst presidents in American history, and put them together, and they would not have done the damage Joe Biden has done to our nation in just a few short years,” Trump said in his video response on TruthSocial.
“Not even close,” he added.
Biden is 80 years old, and Trump is 76. Trump led his response video by attacking Biden on the economy, pointing to inflation and wages.
“Thanks to Joe Biden’s socialist spending calamity, American families are being decimated by the worst inflation in half a century,” Trump said. “Banks are failing. Our currency is crashing and the dollar will soon no longer be the world standard, which will be our greatest defeat in over 200 years. Real wages have been falling 24 months in a row – in other words, under Biden, workers have gotten a pay cut each and every month for two straight years. We have surrendered our energy independence, just like we surrendered in Afghanistan, which we had just a short time ago – and the price of gasoline just hit a five-month high, and it’s going much higher than that.”
No major Democratic candidates have challenged Biden so far, and his announcement Tuesday will likely clear the field.
“Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms,” Biden said in his announcement. “I believe this is ours. That’s why I’m running for reelection as President of the United States. Join us. Let’s finish the job.”
On the Republican side, radio host and commentator Larry Elder, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy top the list as other announced candidates.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, publicly launched an exploratory committee earlier this month. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is also considered a major contender but has not yet announced.
So far, though, Trump is leading the charge in attacking Biden, painting the president’s tenure as a disaster and giving a window into the focus of the campaign going forward.
“Biden has totally humiliated our nation on the world stage – starting with the Afghanistan disaster, perhaps the most embarrassing event in the history of our country,” Trump said. “It meant so much to our enemies when they watched that horrible retreat. Russia is teaming up with China. Iran is days away from a nuclear bomb – not even thinkable. Ukraine has been devastated by an invasion that would never, ever have happened if I was president. And Joe Biden has led us to the very brink of World War III. They say Trump was right about everything. Well, I’m not predicting World War III, but I will say this: We’re very close and they’re only talking about nuclear weapons.”
