Whispers, hints, and non-denials ahead of supposed Biden 2024 launch

No one at the White House will openly tell you Joe Biden is announcing his 2024 re-election campaign next Tuesday. And no one will tell you he isn't.

Including Joe Biden.

Asked by AFP as he crossed a sun-drenched Rose Garden on Friday whether he was announcing, the president playfully answered: "I don't know."

Welcome to the Biden mystery reveal party.

Here's what we know.

Major US media, led by The Washington Post, quoted multiple unnamed sources late Thursday saying Biden, 80, will declare his candidacy next week -- possibly Tuesday.

There are big caveats, namely that the Biden camp has several times previously teased an imminent announcement, then failed to deliver.

January, February, start of April -- each deadline, when people in the know said they knew, came and went. This month, Axios quoted more unnamed sources saying that a decision might be put off for months, until after the summer.

The latest speculation is different for its specificity and immediacy.

And so far, no one -- named or unnamed -- is denying it's true.

Tuesday happens to be the anniversary of the day in 2019 when Biden launched the campaign he ultimately rode to defeating Donald Trump in 2020.

The symbolism of a new announcement, particularly when Biden's main challenger presently is none other than Trump, would be strong.

- Politically friendly schedule -

No mention of election events is on the White House schedule for Biden next week. But his agenda would work nicely with an announcement, especially if it's just a video address, as the US media reports expect it to be.

Monday, Biden will preside over a teachers of the year ceremony. He'll also host three Democratic lawmakers from Tennessee whose gun control protest in the state legislature became a national focus point for frustration over unending mass shootings.

Public education and attempts at gun control are both major Biden priorities.

On Tuesday, possibly the re-election announcement day, he is set to address a trade union conference on one of the main leitmotifs of his expected campaign message -- how his administration is "bringing manufacturing jobs back" and "rebuilding the middle class."

Then on Wednesday, he hosts South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for a state dinner. The event will underline Biden's far-reaching attempts to strengthen US foreign policy through restoring alliances that withered under Trump.

- 'Not from this podium' -

Just don't try asking White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre if Biden is about to pass go.

She immediately ducks behind a US law, the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from being involved in political campaigns.

"I know there's a lot of interest in this. Obviously I totally understand this, the questions about all of this, the press reports that we have seen the last 24 hours," she said at the start of her daily briefing on Friday.

"When it comes to the president's plans for 2024, I just want to say... federal law prohibits me from discussing campaign related topics from this podium."

Her attempt to stonewall triggered attempts by reporters to ask the election question in ever more novel ways.

"Does the president have any plans to mark the fourth anniversary of his announcement?" asked one.

"Who will be able to address questions about 2024?" asked another.

"It's not a 2024, not a Hatch Act-type question," began another, prompting Jean-Pierre to burst out laughing and retort: "That's what you think."

"I don't have anything to say about 2024," Jean-Pierre summarized. "Either way, it's not going to come from this podium."