“He’s not too old, he’s incompetent,” Trump told Megyn Kelly in an interview on her eponymous Sirius XM show last month. In a recent interview, Trump avoided attacking Biden’s age directly. It’s a topic of sensitivity for both men, and Trump seems aware of the perils of contrasting himself with Biden over their exact age difference – which is three years and five months. The former president, who has openly criticized Biden on just about everything, has shown unusual restraint when it comes to directly attacking the president’s age. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is also urging supporters to sign a virtual birthday card for the president.īiden and Trump both try to finesse the question of age A Democratic National Committee official tells CNN there are plans to commemorate the occasion with a post to social media, as the party has done every year since 2011, except in the three years when he was a candidate or prospective candidate. The campaign isn’t ignoring Biden’s birthday, aides told CNN. He is also expected to receive briefings from his national security advisers on global crises. His day is set to include the time-honored pre-Thanksgiving tradition of the annual turkey pardon. On Monday, Biden’s birthday milestone will pass with little fanfare. People want to know, what did they do, and what are they going to do?” “Everything else about people’s biographies or when their birthdays are – that doesn’t matter. Robert Garcia of California, a member of the Biden campaign’s national advisory board. “I don’t think the campaign should be focused on anything but the winning record,” said Democratic Rep. Still, they insist that voters are focused on other issues and that age won’t be a deciding factor next November. Trump, who would be approaching 83 at the same point, would take the baton for oldest president in history if elected.īiden advisers argue – and grumble – that there’s a double standard, with media coverage more focused on Biden’s age than Trump’s. If elected in 2024, Biden would be 86 at the end of his second term. Ron DeSantis, 45, remarked that “Father Time is undefeated,” naming age as an issue for both Biden and Trump, 77, in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.īiden already is the oldest president in history, ahead of Ronald Reagan, who was 77 at the end of his second term. On Saturday, former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, called Biden “a stupid person” who “can’t get off this stage … by the time whatever it is he’s taking wears off,” prompting cheers from a crowd in Fort Dodge, Iowa. And critics raise it every chance they get. A spate of recent polling, including a new CNN poll, indicates it’s a chronic issue with voters. Still, the age liability comes into sharper focus almost by the day. (The president is an avid user of Peloton at the White House.) Joe Biden is facing a near-historic deficit for an incumbentīiden has also made an effort to pass reporters on bike rides during vacations in Delaware, occasionally stopping to take questions while clad in his helmet. President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference in Woodside, California, on November 15, 2023. Biden was prescribed custom orthotics to help with his feet this year, after his annual physical determined that he experiences a “stiff gait.” In recent months, when Biden flies on Air Force One, he has started using a smaller, shorter set of stairs more frequently to board and deplane. Officials at the White House and the campaign privately acknowledge age is a vulnerability, and they work both to eliminate potential gaffes and project vigor. “Turns out on your 146th birthday, you run out of space for candles!” the president said in the post. Later, a picture on Biden’s Instagram feed showed him posing with a birthday cake ablaze with candles. And as he noted the 76th anniversary of the event, he joked that he “wasn’t there” at the first edition. “I just want you to know it’s difficult turning 60 – difficult,” he told the turkey pardon audience, laughing. He also offered multiple jokes about his age. On Monday morning, as he presided over the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon, Biden seemingly confused pop stars Britney Spears and Taylor Swift.īeing the national Thanksgiving turkey, he said, is “harder than getting a ticket to the Renaissance tour or Britney’s tour she on -– it’s kind of warm in Brazil right now,” appearing to confuse Spears with Swift, who is currently on the South America leg of her Eras tour. President Joe Biden is marking his 81st birthday milestone Monday with a low-key family celebration as he braces for a strenuous election year ahead.īut even as the first family keeps the celebrations muted and out-of-sight, the moment nevertheless highlights his greatest campaign liability – his advanced age and, along with it, perceptions among voters that his physical and mental fitness have declined.
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