Sanders, 81, will probably take 'hard look' at 2024 presidential bid if Biden doesn't run, adviser

Bernie Sanders advisor says he is confident that the Vermont Senator may consider a 2024 presidential run if Biden doesn't seek re-election

Democratic presidential hopefuls former US vice president Joe Biden (L) and Senator Bernie Sanders (R) greet each other with an elbow bump as they arrive at Sunday's Democratic debate in Washington, D.C.

By Charlotte Hazard

A top adviser for Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders thinks the 81-year-old senator will take a "hard look" at the third presidential bid if President Joe Biden does not seek reelection.

"I assume that he would give it a hard look," political adviser Faiz Shakir told CBS News on Thursday. "I don’t want to make the judgment for him. Obviously, it would be his choice to make. But I assume that he would want to reevaluate it."

Sander is an Independent and self-proclaimed democratic-socialist who ran on the Democrat ticket in 2016 and 2020.

Shakir, who was Sanders' 2020 campaign manager, also said the senator is "very aware that he’s older now and he’d have to make a real judgment about his own vigor and his stamina and his desire and hunger and passion to do this a third time. But if it were an open field? Yeah, I'm confident he would take another look at it and say, 'Do I want to do this or not?' "

Biden has said that he is planning to run for reelection in 2024. A recent Washington Post/ABC News poll found 56% of Democrats wanted a 2024 candidate other than Biden.