Biden’s age haunts his appearances — and elections

By Nia-Malika Henderson

“My memory is fine,” President Joe Biden said at a press conference designed to refute claims that he’s “an elderly man with a poor memory”.

Minutes later he mistakenly referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as the “President of Mexico”.

This is what average Americans have seen of this president over the last few years. And this is the issue that could doom Biden’s reelection chances.

Americans have observed the following: Biden is 81. He has memory problems. He fractured his foot playing with his dog and has what one Democrat called “an old man walk.”

Sometimes he gets names wrong. Sometimes he gets dates wrong. He pauses for uncomfortable stretches, seeming to search for a word or thought that’s not quite there. He has a faraway gaze that makes him look out of it.

In a recent NBC News poll, 76 per cent of voters said that Biden “not having the necessary mental and physical health to be president for a second term” was a major or moderate concern for them. That includes 54 per cent of Democrats and 81 per cent of independents.

These are the voters Biden and his team will need to return to the White House. Rather than level with Americans about Biden’s clear issues, they too often dissemble and get defensive or pivot to Donald Trump’s age.

Yet to voters Trump, who despite being just three years younger, appears less frail. Only 48 per cent of voters have the same concerns about Trump’s age and fitness.

Biden, who likes to say he is a shoot-from-the-shoulder politician, must admit that average Americans aren’t part of some right-wing cabal when they notice signs of his aging. Many have seen a similar decline in themselves and family and friends.

The president can’t keep telling Americans to believe him, not what they’re seeing. He must acknowledge what everyone sees and is talking about, then succinctly pivot to his real strengths. He is a fundamentally decent man. He has restored America’s reputation as a reliable ally.

He pulled the American economy out of a ditch. The Biden economy has seen higher wages and lower unemployment. The Biden economy added 3,53,000 jobs last month. Millions of students no longer have burdensome student loan payments.

Yes, Biden gets names wrong. But he has gotten the big issues right. Biden might forget that he met with a certain world leader, but it’s because he has met with hundreds over his 40 years in public service.

He might forget a date, but he remembers the people and the values he is fighting for. A Black woman sits on the Supreme Court and in the vice president’s office — in fact, Biden’s team is one of the most diverse the country has ever seen.

He should showcase this team as often as he can, emphasizing that the presidency is a team effort. While former President Donald Trump was often derided for his need to show off obsequious cabinet meetings, those meetings helped burnish his image as the leader of a loyal team.

Biden should borrow from Trump’s playbook. The presidency is not only about legislative accomplishments, it’s also about the visual display of strength, power and leadership. Telling Americans that Biden is engaged isn’t as effective as showing that he is.

The White House must put him out there often, mistakes and all. (Is it too late for him to do the Super Bowl interview?) Hiding the gaffe-prone president, as his team seems prone to do, will only make the gaffes bigger. If he’s out there enough, eventually reporters will tire of asking him if he’s fit for the job.

His constant presence and engagement will be its own answer. He will surely make mistakes, but the stakes will be much lower. Every event won’t have such high stakes, as happened with his recent press conference, if he’s constantly flooding the zone.

His ability to connect with ordinary, struggling Americans is unmatched — his call with the family of a fallen soldier was incredibly moving and authentic. His genteel, pastoral and grandfatherly manner is an asset in a fractured and angry country. His campaign must look for ways to highlight this strength.

Democrats have for many months been privately frustrated with the way the White House has dealt with the age issue. They have pressed the president’s team to do more. The special counsel’s report on Biden’s handling of classified material has forced them to take their heads out of the sand.

Democrats can try to spin the report’s characterizations of Biden as a forgetful old man as the musings of a partisan hack, but it won’t work. They must instead follow the political adage of hanging a lantern on a problem. Yes, Biden is old, but look at the scoreboard.

Democrats like to say that the campaign hasn’t started yet — but it has. Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee and he’s campaigning like one. In fact, he has been campaigning for the White House since 2015.

The conservative echo chamber is vast, coordinated and unmatched, and has been his running mate. And it’s been very effective at making Biden’s age the primary issue for voters. The President’s penchant for gaffes and his team’s nothing-to-see-here approach hasn’t helped.

Right now, 2024 seems to be shaping up like 2016. Democrats are downplaying the flashing warning signs. Their coalition is fraying and unenthused. They’re relying too heavily on the specter of “crazy Trump.” And they’re full of hubris about their political skills and a Covid-fueled 2020 victory.

The big difference this year is that if Trump wins in November, nobody will be surprised. The choice in November isn’t between two old men. It’s between an unhinged, wannabe dictator and a stable, well-meaning leader who believes in America’s bedrock principals of freedom and democracy. Biden surrounds himself with policy experts.

Trump has Mike “My Pillow” Lindell and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Biden believes in law and order. If elected, Trump will pardon himself and the insurrectionists. Biden has Kamala Harris and a strong, competent cabinet. Trump will install conspiracy-driven MAGA loyalists.

Democrats must accept that Biden isn’t getting any younger. Embrace his age, amplify the Dark Brandon theme, tout his successes and his experienced team and stop pretending that it’s a made-up issue.

They can’t argue that they are in touch with the concerns of average Americans, while ignoring voters’ concerns over the president’s age. Instead, they must show that they hear them and try to ease their discomfort.

They should be constantly hammering Biden’s many successes and Trump’s litany of failures. Ignoring the issue will only allow voters’ doubts to fester and help pave the way for a Trump victory in November.