Is Joe Biden too old to be re-elected as US president? A media report rekindles the debate. Fox News is already rejoicing.
New York – In the 2024 U.S. election, there will probably be a duel between two old acquaintances: Donald Trump and Joe Biden And, without wanting to offend anyone, the two politicians are literally not young. Trump is 76 years old, Biden 80. In doing so, he has now inspired a much-noticed media report. It bears, loosely translated, the headline "The Complexity of Being the Oldest U.S. President."
The debate over whether Biden's age could have an impact on his administration is also an old one. The BBC reported in April 2023 that Biden's campaign team hoped to "eliminate" the "age problem." Political consultant Bob Shrum has been involved in the presidential campaigns of Democrats Al Gore and John Kerry. When asked, he told the BBC that Biden was depicted as "energetic" in his campaign – as a counterweight, so to speak.
In Shrum's estimation, the "age issue" could only become a problem for Biden if he makes a "serious" mistake or "stumbles" in the election campaign.
Donald Trump is running again – but the competition is fierce
Donald Trump is running again – but the competition is fierce
Joe Biden and the sandbag incident: "Doesn't say anything at all"
The election campaign expert Shrum meant the "stumbling" in a figurative sense, and not as in the actual fall over the sandbag with which Biden recently made headlines. The malice was sometimes great. "Biden may be America's oldest president, but tripping over a sandbag doesn't mean anything," the Guardian said in a commentary. The New York Times (NYT) wrote on June 5 about the "complexity of being" of a U.S. president whose age opponents use against him. Biden possesses "impressive stamina," the text said, among other things.
The conservative channel Fox News immediately collected derisive Twitter comments: Steve Guest, adviser to Republican Ted Cruz, called the article "embarrassing". Jonathan Favreau, former speechwriter for former US President Barack Obama, said the text was "quite positive". This is the spectrum of opinions.
However, widespread skepticism about older people in high positions cannot be dismissed out of hand. In connection with the sandbag, the US portal Outkick remembered that Biden allegedly could not remember his specific age at a press conference in April. And the U.S. colleagues at Axios reported in the same month that White House employees are privately referring to Biden as an "aging king." "Her main instinct is to protect him," an unnamed insider said.
Too old? Republicans demand dementia test from Biden
In fact, the NYT article said Biden was deliberately shielded from the media to avoid upsets like the sandbag fall. Campaign expert Shrum also warned on the BBC: "With things like this, the Republicans – who are already trying to amplify every faux pas of Biden – will claim that Biden is no longer fit for the presidency."
In 2022, 54 Republicans signed an open letter to the White House expressing their "concern" about Biden's cognitive state and calling for a dementia test. "These recent slip-ups are not isolated incidents," the letter said.
Biden, Trump and the U.S. election: "They're both old"
Donald Trump also expressed "concerns". Before the 2022 midterm elections, he liked to play a video at campaign events about Biden's various blunders and stumbles, saying "Joe Biden can't speak clearly" or "He can't think clearly." This was underlined by the BBC.
But she also asked Jim Messina, who led Obama's 2012 election campaign. His prognosis for Biden is not so bad. After all, Trump is only four years younger than him. The Democrats could count on Trump's own age to "defuse" the whole age issue, he believed. "Voters will say, 'Look, they're both old.'" (frs)
