President Biden vows to defeat Donald Trump again in US 2024 polls

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he was confident he could beat his predecessor Donald Trump in a rematch in 2024 — even though he acknowledged the country could slide back into recession under his leadership.

The 79-year-old Democrat was asked if he would announce a run for a second term after November’s midterm elections – and if Trump would play a role in his decision.

“I think I can beat Donald Trump again,” Biden replied, though he’s set to confirm another tilt in the Oval Office in 2024.

Biden defeated Trump in both the state’s “electoral college” and in the 2020 popular vote – prompting relentless false allegations of widespread voter fraud by the defeated president.

Biden hinted to reporters at a NATO summit in March that he would be happy if Trump was his opponent again.

Biden’s popularity took a hit last year amid rising inflation, rising violent crime in cities and a seemingly intractable migrant crisis on the southern border.

But his approval ratings remain top of the polls for Trump, who routinely mocks Biden — three years his senior — for his age.

CNN asked Biden what he would say to voters who think he’s too old to run for office.

“Give me a president in recent history who did as much as I did in the first two years. No kidding. You might not like what I did, but the vast majority of Americans like what I have done,” Biden replied.

“And so…it’s about, can you do the job? And I think I can do the job.”

In an extensive interview covering the war in Ukraine and Saudi Arabia-led oil production cuts that are expected to push gas prices up, Biden was asked about concerns for the economy amid bleak outlook for the economy growth.

Biden played down the likelihood of a recession, but acknowledged that a “mild” slowdown is possible.

“I don’t think there will be a recession. If there is, it will be a very mild recession. That means we are going to go down slightly,” he said.

Trump, 76, came to power during the longest economic expansion in US history, although the economy plunged into recession in 2020 as the world grappled with the coronavirus epidemic.

Biden frequently answers questions from the media, but he has held few one-on-one press conferences or television interviews.

He’s been more visible of late, as he ventures to talk about Democratic legislative gains and ‘MAGA Republicans’ – supporters of former President Donald’s ‘Make America Great Again’ agenda in the final weeks of the Trump’s midterm campaign – to beat.

He also spoke with CBS in September and made headlines when he declared the end of the pandemic and confirmed the United States’ commitment to defending Taiwan against Chinese attack.