It's official: The 2024 presidential election will be a rematch of 2020's contest.

President Joe Biden won the Georgia presidential primary on Tuesday night, clinching a second straight Democratic nomination. Biden's Peach State victory put him past the 1,968 delegates needed for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this August, where his nomination will be made official. 

And after the polls closed in Washington state late Tuesday night, Trump was projected to have clinched his third straight Republican presidential nomination.

What You Need To Know

  • After Tuesday's primary contests, the 2024 presidential election has been officially settled

  • President Joe Biden won the Georgia presidential primary early Tuesday night, clinching a second straight Democratic nomination

  • After the polls closed late Tuesday in Washington state, Trump was projected to have clinched his third straight Republican presidential nomination

  • Both candidates will accept their nominations at their respective party conventions this summer; Republicans will meet in Milwaukee in July, Democrats hold their conference in August in Chicago

  • November's election will be the seventh rematch of presidential candidates in U.S. history, and the first since the 1956, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican, was challenged by Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson, a Democrat

The 45th and 46th Presidents are set up for a rematch on Nov. 5 — only the seventh rematch of presidential candidates in U.S. history, and the first since the 1956, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican, was challenged by Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson, a Democrat.

Trump will formally accept the nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July, by which point he could be in the remarkable position of being both a presidential candidate and convicted felon. His first criminal trial, involving alleged hush money payments to an adult film star, begins in New York at the end of March.

In a statement, Biden celebrated the nomination while painting Trump as a serious threat to democracy.

"Four years ago, I ran for president because I believed we were in a battle for the soul of this nation," Biden said. "Because of the American people, we won that battle, and now I am honored that the broad coalition of voters representing the rich diversity of the Democratic Party across the country have put their faith in me once again to lead our party – and our country – in a moment when the threat Trump poses is greater than ever."

Biden touted his travels since the State of the Union last week, saying, "The American people are working tirelessly every single day toward a brighter future. Despite the challenges we faced when I took office, we’re in the middle of a comeback: wages are rising faster than inflation, jobs are coming back, consumer confidence has soared."

"Amid this progress, we face a sobering reality: Freedom and democracy are at risk here at home in a way they have not been since the Civil War," Biden said, adding of his likely November opponent: "Donald Trump is running a campaign of resentment, revenge, and retribution that threatens the very idea of America."

"He is glorifying dictators and pledging to become one himself on day one. He seeks to bury the truth of January 6 by vowing to pardon the insurrectionists who placed a dagger at the throat of American democracy," Biden said of Trump. "This week, he vowed to cut seniors’ hard-earned Medicare and Social Security. He’s rooting for the economy to crash, pushing tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, and planning to ban abortion nationwide."

“Voters now have a choice to make about the future of this country," he continued. "Are we going to stand up and defend our democracy or let others tear it down? Will we restore the right to choose and protect our freedoms or let extremists take them away? Will we finally make the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes – or will we allow corporate greed to run rampant on the backs of the middle class?"

“I am honored that the broad coalition of voters representing the rich diversity of the Democratic Party across the country have put their faith in me once again to lead our party — and our country — in a moment when the threat Trump poses is greater than ever," the president added.

In a video message, Trump called Tuesday's contests "a really great day of victory."

"We have to win an election, and we should win it by a lot because there's never been anybody worse at doing that job than Joe Biden," Trump said. "We're not gonna take time to celebrate, we're gonna celebrate in 8 months when the election is over. Nov. 5, I believe, will go down as the most important day in the history of our country."

"So start thinking about it, start thinking about your vote, because this vote is going to be the most important vote you've ever cast," he continued, adding: "We have to get to work to beat Joe Biden, the worst administration, the worst president in the history of our country, they are destroying our country and we're not gonna let that happen."

Not even halfway through the presidential primary calendar, Tuesday marked a crystalizing moment for a nation uneasy with its choices in 2024.

There is no longer any doubt about who voters will cast their ballots for in November: At 81, Biden is already the oldest president in U.S. history, while the 77-year-old Trump is facing decades in prison as a defendant in four criminal cases. Their rematch — the first featuring two U.S. presidents since 1912 — will almost certainly deepen the nation’s searing political and cultural divides over the eight-month grind that lies ahead.

On the eve of Tuesday's primaries, Trump acknowledged that Biden would be the Democratic nominee, even as seized on the president's age.

"I assume he’s going to be the candidate," Trump said of Biden on CNBC. “I’m his only opponent other than life, life itself.”

Both candidates dominated Tuesday's primaries in swing-state Georgia, deep-red Mississippi and Democratic-leaning Washington. Voting was taking place later in Hawaii's Republican caucus.

Despite their tough talk, the road ahead will not be easy for either presumptive nominee.

Trump is facing 91 felony counts in four criminal cases involving his handling of classified documents and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, among other alleged crimes. He’s also facing increasingly pointed questions about his policy plans and relationships with some of the world's most dangerous dictators. Trump met privately on Friday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has rolled back democracy in his country.

Trump also faced some headwinds in the form of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, an ex-member of his administration who challenged him for the GOP nomination until suspending her campaign after Super Tuesday last week. Despite her leaving the race, she scored more than 75,000 votes in Georgia as of late Tuesday night, signaling that he may need to do more to win over her voters. 

Many Haley voters have expressed ambivalence about backing Trump, with some saying they'd outright support Biden instead. The presumptive GOP nominee will have to change that if he wants to win the states that will likely decide the election, such as Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — each of which he lost in 2020.

Biden, who would be 86 years old at the end of his next term, is working to assure a skeptical electorate that he’s still physically and mentally able to thrive in the world’s most important job. Voters in both parties are unhappy with his handling of immigration and inflation. He has also faced some opposition from the progressive wing of his party over his perceived stance over the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.