Biden acknowledges ‘People are just down,’ doesn’t commit yet to 2024 reelection bid

Between inflation at home and war abroad, many Americans are feeling down in the dumps, President Biden acknowledged in an interview aired Sunday.

“I don’t blame people for being down,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“I can’t think of a time with greater uncertainty,” Biden continued, noting the COVID pandemic, recent school shutdowns and inflation. “It’s understandable why people are just down.”

About four in 10 Americans say they’re worse off financially than they were when Biden took office, an ABC News-Washington Post poll found.

Last month, inflation spiked at the fastest rate since June, according to the Federal Reserve.

Biden insisted some of the negative sentiment comes from an old culprit: TV news.

“It goes well beyond the economy,” he said. “Can you think of anything that, turn on the television — you go, ‘God, that makes me feel good?’

“Everything is in the negative,” he added.

He’s planning to run for reelection, First Lady Jill Biden said in an interview aired Friday.

But the president played down her remarks, repeating that he hasn’t quite made up in his mind.

“My intention has been from the beginning to run, but there’s too many other things I have to finish in the near term before I start a campaign,” he said.

Biden would be 82 by the time his second term starts, if he runs and wins.

“It’s legitimate for people to raise issues about my age,” he said. “The only thing I can say is, watch me.”

Recent weeks have seen some far-right lawmakers question the U.S.’ support of Ukraine, which marked the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion on Friday.

Biden visited Kyiv last Monday, promising another installment of military aid that brings the total cost of U.S. support to about $13 billion.

He insisted the U.S. will keep sending help, arguing that it would cost more to pull back.

“The right-wing Republicans are talking about, ‘We can’t do this,” Biden said. “We find ourselves in a situation where the cost of walking away could be considerably higher than the cost of helping Ukraine maintain its independence.”

To date, the U.S. has shipped defensive missiles, tanks and personnel carriers, among a staggering array of equipment.

But Biden is holding off on granting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s latest request, for F-16 fighter jets.

“We’re sending him what our seasoned military thinks he needs now,” said the U.S. commander-in-chief. “I am ruling it out for now,” he said of shipping F-16s.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is “entirely too confident” he can grind down Ukraine, CIA Director William Burns said Sunday.

“There was a very defiant attitude on the part of Mr. [Sergey] Naryshkin … a sense of cockiness and hubris,” Burns said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” referring to a recent meeting with Russia’s security chief.

That posture reflected Putin’s own views, Burns added.

With no end in sight to the brutal conflict, Biden said it’s up to the Ukrainians to define their terms for victory.

“We have to put the Ukrainians in a position where they can make advances this spring and summer,” he said, “and move to a position where they can negotiate from a position of strength.”

With News Wire Services