Joe Biden has officially announced he will seek a second term in the White House, ending months of speculation and firing the starting gun on a 2024 re-election campaign that could result in a rematch of his 2020 clash with Donald Trump.

In a video posted to social media that sought to depict him as the voice of moderation against rightwing Republicans, the president said: “This not a time to be complacent; that is why I am running for re-election.”

Against images of the January 6 2021 attack on the US Capitol, Biden said the question the US was facing “was whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer”. He added that “around the country?.?.?.?extremists are lining up to take on those bedrock freedoms”.