Biden shows strongest sign yet that he will run in 2024

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WATCH LIVE: Biden holds a joint press conference with Macron

The US president and French president brief the media during the state visit.

President Biden offered his biggest hint to date that he plans to run for re-election in 2024 during his meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron last week.

Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted Macron and his wife for a state dinner at the White House on Friday, and the first lady told Macron that she and her husband are ready for a re-election campaign, the New York Times reported Wednesday. The two couples then toasted Biden's as yet unannounced effort.

While Biden still has not made a formal decision to run for president, his White House has long stuck to the line that he "intends to run."

Nevertheless, many have harbored suspicions or even hopes that he will step aside after one term due to his age.

DEMOCRATS ARE WAKING UP TO BIDEN'S AGE ISSUE, STRATEGISTS SAY

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcome French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron as they arrive for a State Dinner on the North Portico of the White House, on Dec. 1, 2022.  (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

President Joe Biden listens as French President Emmanuel Macron speaks before a toast during a State Dinner on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Many Democrats were champing at the bit to push Biden aside prior to the midterm elections, but the party's better-than-expected performance on Election Day has caused some to give him another chance. When Biden's age was thrust into the spotlight in mid-November as the 46th president celebrated his 80th birthday, Democrats were split on whether his age made him too old for the White House or the "Tom Brady" of politics.

"Tom Brady won a Super Bowl when he was like 43," Larry Drake, chair of New Hampshire’s Rockingham County Democrats, told the Wall St. Journal at the time. "I think we have to reassess our views of aging and all that."

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Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., remains among the Democrats who hope the president takes the opportunity to gracefully retire, however.

"I think he’s done a wonderful job of being the bridge that he promised to be," Phillips said at the time "The issue is that it is just time for a new generation of leaders to participate."

U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris listen as former U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 5, 2022.  REUTERS/Leah Millis (REUTERS/Leah Millis)

Nevertheless, the Democratic Party appears to consolidate around Biden as the nominee, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom vowing to support Biden if he runs. Newsom was among the top potential challengers for Biden in 2024.

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Biden is the oldest person ever to hold the office of president, and he will be nearly 82 on Election Day in 2024.