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Former President Donald Trump had a fiery response to President Joe Biden's anticipated 2024 candidacy announcement that's expected this week.
Biden has been long anticipated to launch his reelection bid, and close sources told the Associated Press last week that the formal announcement could come as soon as Tuesday, marking four years to the day that the president entered the 2020 presidential election.
But Trump, who announced his reelection bid in November shortly after the midterm elections, said on Monday that it was "hard to believe" Biden would be the Democratic nominee in 2024. Trump is ahead in several hypothetical GOP primary polls, which could set him up for a rematch against Biden.
"It seems hard to believe, and I'm not speaking from any standpoint other than I watch him like everybody else watches him," Trump said while speaking to Newsmax host Greg Kelly.
"It would seem to me that somewhere along the line, something will happen," the former president added. "It's just, this country is in trouble."
Trump's interview accompanied a statement sent by his campaign Monday night in which the former president ripped Biden's "social spending calamity," accused him of allowing in "millions and millions of illegal aliens" from the southern border and said that Biden "totally humiliated our Nation on the world stage."
"With such a calamitous and failed presidency, it is almost inconceivable that Biden would even think of running for reelection," Trump said in the statement, which was obtained by Newsweek.
"You know what happened in the last election: they cheated, and they rigged the election," the former president added, reiterating his baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen through election fraud. "But I promise you this: when I stand on that debate stage and compare our records, it will be Radical Democrats' worst nightmare because there's never been a record as bad as they have, and our country has never been through so much."
As of Monday, Biden's approval rating stood at 42.5 percent, with a 52.8 percent disapproval rating. However, a recent Gallup poll found that 87 percent of Democrats approved of Biden's work, a higher rating than former Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton had during their third year in office.
Trump has enjoyed a nearly double-digital lead in several hypothetical GOP primary matchups. But in a recent Quinnipiac University poll, the former Republican president had a higher disapproval rate than Biden, and several voters said that Trump's impending criminal charges should disqualify him from the race.
Biden also defeated Trump in polls from Wisconsin and Michigan, two key battleground states.
However, a Harvard/Harris poll published Friday gave Trump a five-point lead over Biden in a potential general election matchup.
Newsweek has reached out to the Democratic National Committee's communications team via email for comment.
About the writer
Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more