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US President Joe Biden has told Democratic donors he wasn't confident he'd be seeking another term if his predecessor Donald Trump wasn't running for the White House, a notably candid assessment of his reelection rationale as he enters a likely rematch with his 2020 rival.
"If Trump wasn't running, I'm not sure I'd be running," he said, saying Democrats "cannot let him win".
The comment, made during a fundraiser at a private home outside Boston today, offered perhaps the starkest rationale to date for Biden's reelection decision-making, and, according to sources familiar with the matter, took senior Biden campaign officials and advisers by surprise.
"Yikes," one top campaign adv responded upon learning of the comments.
The campaign was quick to try to shrug off the president's quip as a "nothing-to-see-here" moment, pointing out that Biden has always described Trump as a unique threat to the country, and that he had expressed similar sentiments about his decision to run for president around the 2020 campaign.
"President Biden said in 2020 he was running to restore the soul of our nation – he got into the race after Trump said what he did after Charlottesville – and he correctly views the former president as a unique threat to our democracy," Delaware Senator Chris Coons, a national co-chair of Biden's 2024 campaign, told CNN.
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"President Biden beat Trump before and he will do it again."
Biden himself appeared to walk back the comment when asked later today whether he'd still be running if Trump wasn't, telling reporters at the White House: "I expect so, but look — he is running, and I have to run."
The earlier comment came as Biden began a fundraising sprint ahead of an expensive reelection race.
He's expected to raise more than $US15 million ($22 million) over the course of five days through high-dollar fundraisers and grassroots efforts, a source with knowledge of the campaign's fundraising said.
Biden headlined three fundraisers in the Boston area today, the first of seven events between now and Monday, with more scheduled for later this month.
Democratic officials are looking ahead to what some believe could be a billion-dollar campaign, as Biden works to sell his reelection to a public that, at least for now, appears sceptical.
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