As speculation about who will run for president in 2024 continues to swirl, one man is already announcing his bid as the first Democratic candidate to mount a challenge against President Joe Biden.
On Monday, political activist Jerome Segal announced his decision to pursue the nomination from the Democratic Party, with a campaign focused on job security and peace in the Middle East.
Segal’s announcement came less than a week after he conceded the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Maryland. He ran in a crowded primary, losing to Oprah-backed Wes Moore, who was declared the winner late Friday and will go on to run against Trump-backed Dan Cox in the general election. Segal garnered the second-fewest votes among the 10 Democratic candidates, receiving less than 1 percent of the vote.
Segal’s decision to run for president marks his fourth political campaign. The 78-year-old first challenged Ben Cardin in Maryland’s 2018 Senate primary. He also ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
“I was planning to delay the announcement of my candidacy until after the mid-term elections,” Segal said in a Monday statement. “My decision to go public right now was triggered by Joe Biden’s embarrassing trip to the Middle East.”
Segal, who is the founder of the socialist Bread and Roses party, said he was particularly upset by Biden’s comments from earlier this month, during which the president said the ground was “not ripe” to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks…. (Read more)
