Sanders open to running for White House again if Biden doesn’t

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) top political adviser said in a recent memo that he is open to running in the 2024 election if President Biden declines to seek reelection.

The Washington Post first reported the news of the memo, adding it was shared with his allies on Wednesday.

A source directly familiar with the memo confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday that the document exists.

“In the event of an open 2024 Democratic presidential primary, Sen. Sanders has not ruled out another run for president, so we advise that you answer any questions about 2024 with that in mind,” the outlet said, quoting the memo from Sanders’s former campaign manager Faiz Shakir.

If he were to run, Sanders, who turned 80 last year and is a year older than Biden, would be among the oldest candidates in the running for the U.S. presidency in 2024.

CNN reporter Ryan Nobles shared screenshots of the memo on Twitter.

Sanders spokesman Mike Casca told the Post that “While it’s frustrating this private memo leaked to the media, the central fact remains true, which is that Senator Sanders is the most popular officeholder in the country.”

His office did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

A recent YouGov 2022 poll asked Democrats and independents who lean Democratic who they would rather see as the Democratic nominee in 2024. Around 21 percent supported Biden, with Sanders tying with Vice President Harris with 14 percent support. About 18 percent of the respondents said they were not sure.

In 2020 Sanders was asked at a Washington Post Live event whether he’d consider a third consecutive presidential run in 2024.

“I think the likelihood is very, very slim at that,” he said at the time.

The Vermont senator built a progressive movement that rose to prominence in 2016, when he lost the Democratic nomination to Clinton. He ran once again in a crowded field of contenders in 2020, where he briefly emerged as the front-runner.

The news comes as the the White House has repeatedly said that Biden intends to run again in 2024. Two sources told The Hill last week that the president told former President Obama that he is planning to run for reelection in 2024.