Which Republican Candidate Should Biden Be Most Afraid Of? – A FiveThirtyEight Chat (FiveThirtyEight) / May 2, 2023
Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.
ameliatd (Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, senior reporter): It’s finally official: President Biden is running for reelection. After months of teasing a potential bid for a second term, he dropped a prerecorded video on April 25 saying that his 2024 campaign has officially begun.
In that announcement, Biden started to make his own pitch for another four years. “The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer,” he said in the video. And while he didn’t name any rivals, pictures of Republican opponents — like former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — flashed on the screen as he spoke.
Without a serious primary challenger (yet, anyway), potential GOP opponents are clearly on Biden’s mind. But the Republican primary is just getting off the ground. So let’s talk about which potential GOP candidate would be Biden’s most formidable opponent. Which Republican, even if they haven’t officially announced yet — looking at you, DeSantis — has the best chance of beating Biden, based on what we know now?
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