President Joe Biden appeared to offer some backhanded praise for Republicans running against former President Donald Trump.
While conceding that he hasn’t “been able to keep up with” all the 2024 developments on the GOP side, Biden contended there were a lot of “competent candidates who are trying to get the nomination” during a gaggle with reporters Monday.
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“I’m not being facetious. I’m being very serious. I haven’t focused on it that much,” Biden further explained, per a pool report. “It seems like a lot of competent candidates are trying to get the nomination, so we’ll see.”
Although he did not single out Trump during the gaggle, Biden has bashed his predecessor in the past for being unfit to serve as president and decried many of his policies as extreme.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) both entered the 2024 GOP primary last week. DeSantis is widely viewed as Trump’s chief GOP foe and has polled very competitively with Biden as well.
Biden trolled DeSantis on Twitter during his launch, ribbing his glitch-plagued campaign debut on the social media platform. When pressed about his reaction to DeSantis’s openness toward pardoning Trump if he ascends to the Oval Office, Biden said, “It’s a good question.”
The president has long denounced “extreme” MAGA Republicans and even likened some of their objectives to “semi-fascism.”
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Biden announced his reelection bid last month.
As the GOP primary field grows more crowded, Biden has largely aimed most of his digs at Trump, occasionally criticizing DeSantis.
