President Biden on Tuesday told supporters he's not sure if he would be seeking a second term in the White House in 2024 if former President Donald Trump wasn't trying to win back his old job.
"If Trump wasn't running, I'm not sure I'd be running. But we cannot let him win," the president said at a fundraiser at a private home near Boston, Massachusetts, according to a pool report.
Biden's candid comments about his reasons for running for re-election came as he reiterated what he and Democrats have emphasized is the threat Trump poses to American democracy if he wins back the White House.
"Trump’s not even hiding the ball anymore. He’s telling us what he’s going to do. He’s making no bones about it," Biden warned.
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The president also once again spotlighted Trump's recent renewed calls to scrap the Affordable Care Act, the sweeping health care law passed during Biden's tenure as vice president during then-President Obama's administration.
The fundraiser, one of three the president was headlining in the Boston area on Tuesday, comes as the president kicked off a fundraising sprint to close the year, to build resources for what will certainly be an expensive re-election effort in 2024.
The president's remark suggests that Biden may not have run for another four years in the White House if Trump had decided against a 2024 bid.
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Trump remains the commanding front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination as he makes his third straight White House run. Trump holds a large double-digit lead over the rest of the shrinking field of Republican rivals for the nomination.
Biden made history in 2020 as the oldest person elected president, as he defeated Trump.
The now 81-year-old Biden has long viewed himself as the Democrats' best shot at keeping Trump from winning back the White House.
But Biden continues to suffer from underwater approval ratings among many Americans and faces concerns – not just from Republicans and independents but also from Democrats – over his physical and mental stamina.
While the president is the commanding front-runner for his party’s 2024 nomination, polls indicate that many Americans – including plenty of Democrats – don’t want the president to seek a second term in the White House.
Those same surveys spotlight that voters are far from thrilled with the likely prospect of a rematch between Biden and Trump.
Fox News' Kate Sprague and Kelly Phares contributed to this report
