Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden denied in his interview with the New York Times that he has signaled to aides that he would serve only one term as president if elected, saying reports on the matter were "simply not true."
"I never hinted that," Biden told the paper's editorial board in an interview published Friday. "That is simply not true."
Biden's denial came after the editorial board's Kathleen Kingsbury said the former vice president had "hinted a little bit" that he'd be willing to serve just a single term. The transcript of the interview cites a December Politico report that Biden was "quietly indicating that he will almost certainly not run for a second term." The report cites four top campaign advisers who said Biden would not publicly make a one-term pledge but recognized that it was inconceivable for him to run for reelection in 2024 at the age of 82.
Biden said in the interview that he didn't know where the suggestions were coming from.
"I don’t know where it came from, but it did not—it came from somebody who in fact, I guess, thinks that they know me and thinks that maybe, I don’t know," Biden said.
A spokesman for Politico said the outlet "stands by the story and our reporting of it."
Kate Bedingfield, the deputy campaign manager and communications director for Biden's campaign, pushed back on the Politico report when it was first published.
"This is not a conversation our campaign is having and not something VP Biden is thinking about," Bedingfield said in December.
Biden was asked earlier this year by the Associated Press if he would only serve one term and was noncommittal.
"I feel good and all I can say is, watch me, you’ll see," Biden said. "It doesn’t mean I would run a second term. I’m not going to make that judgment at this moment."