McEnany: Biden won't be able to hide 'in the basement' anymore if he runs in 2024
President's answer on whether he would seek reelection in 2024 only fuels more speculation
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"The Five" on Thursday reacted to President Biden addressing whether he would run for reelection in 2024, and some on the panel said his response in the TV interview was poorly considered.
On ABC’s "World News Tonight" Wednesday, Biden said he would run for reelection if he was in good health.
"I’m a great respecter of fate. Fate has intervened in my life many, many times. If I’m in the health I’m in now – if I’m in good health – then in fact, I would run again," he said
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Still, Biden's caveat did nothing to extinguish speculation about his condition and whether he will seek the reelection in 2024, the hosts of "The Five" argued.
"This is the first time he's kind of caveated his answer [on if he] will … run again," former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said. "This time he had that nuance of his health. And what's fascinating is the members of his own administration refused to shut down talk of him not running."
President Biden in the White House (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Last month, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told reporters that he had not thought about running for president. McEnany pointed out that what he should have said was, "No, my boss is Joe Biden, I work for Joe Biden. I fully expect President Joe Biden to run and be reelected."
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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during interview with CNBC outside the White House October 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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"Lucky for Joe – or unlucky for Joe – he won't be able to remain in the basement," she continued. "I mean, America has woken up to what it's like when you elect a president who hid from the American people [and] didn't share [his] … secret COVID plan."
Jesse Watters chimed in and said that he believes Biden is a "one and done" president and that the commander-in-chief's answer on 2024 will have massive political fallout.
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"[Biden] opened up huge problems with this answer," he said. "Joe just lame-ducked himself in front of our allies, in front of our enemies. They could just wait him out if he's only going to be around for maybe three more years."
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Watters added that the consequences of Biden throwing possible doubts on 2024 have intraparty consequences for the Democrats. He said that now the Squad will likely view Biden as "politically wounded."
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at a news conference Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
"This isn't a conservative commentator saying, you know, the guy's lost his fastball. This isn't a Democrat whispering in the halls of Congress, 'You know, he's not the same as he used to be.' [Biden] introduced this on network TV. Now everyone is going to see everything he does in the context of his failing health. Every cough, every stumble, every time he has a light schedule, you're going to look at this," Watters said.
"Democrats … better start making contingency plans."