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    Biden goes on offense over age issue, wishing Trump a happy 78th birthday

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    Taking a line out of Donald Trump’s playbook, Joe Biden offered his rival a tongue-in-cheek birthday greeting on X on Friday, saying: “Happy 78th birthday, Donald. Take it from one old guy to another: Age is just a number.”The president then coupled his thoughts with a caustic video sarcastically touting “78 of Trump’s historic … ‘accomplishments’” before a Biden re-election campaign spokesperson added: “On behalf of America, our early gift for your 79th: making sure you are never president again.”Biden’s message comes as his campaign attempts to inject some wit and zippy one-liners into its output, critiquing his presidential predecessor beyond baseline warnings about democracy over other topics such as Trump’s hairstyle, his hawking of Bibles and his energy levels at his New York trial, where he frequently closed his eyes before being convicted of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments delivered to adult film actor Stormy Daniels.Trump’s conviction came less than two weeks before Biden’s son, Hunter, was convicted on charges related to him buying a handgun while being a user of crack cocaine.Taking the age issue to the campaign wrestling mat is a strategy that comes with risks for both candidates. For Democrats, a willingness to embrace it marks a change of direction.For months, the Biden campaign has played down questions about Biden’s mental acuity. But it’s now confronting the issue head-on after polls showed that 86% of Americans say the 81-year-old president is too old for a second term compared with 59% for Trump, fewer than four years his junior.But after Biden appeared to wander off several times during his visits to Europe last week, and was steered back into position by the first lady, Jill Biden, or other world leaders, the age issue is again bubbling to the surface.There was also a hard-hitting, 3,000-word Wall Street Journal article recently that quoted numerous lawmakers who said they had witnessed Biden “slipping” and experiencing good and bad moments. The Journal said the White House had “kept tabs” on Democrats who participated in the story and encouraged them to call back to emphasize Biden’s strengths.At a campaign event in Wisconsin hosted by older supporters of Biden and his vice-president, Kamala Harris, the first lady advanced the argument that her husband’s age is an asset.“This election is most certainly not about age,” Jill Biden said. “Joe and that other guy are essentially the same age. Let’s not be fooled, Joe isn’t one of the most effective presidents of our lives in spite of his age, but because of it.”Meanwhile, for the former president, turning 78 on Friday meant a CNBC report quoting CEOs of various businesses who had met with Trump and found him to be “remarkably meandering”. The CEOs found that Trump “could not keep a straight thought [and] was all over the map”, including one who added that the former president “doesn’t know what he’s talking about” when it comes to explaining how he would accomplish any of his policy proposals, the report asserted.Trump otherwise spent Friday addressing Club 47 fan club members at a convention center in West Palm Beach and going after his rival. “Our country is being destroyed by incompetent people,” Trump said while calling for all presidents to pass aptitude tests.That came a day after Republicans in Congress sang their own rendition of Happy Birthday and presented Trump with a cake and gifts during his first visit to Capitol Hill since his supporters attacked the Capitol building on 6 January 2021, weeks after Biden defeated him in the 2020 presidential election.Trump himself didn’t seem too thrilled by the prospect of a close-to-milestone birthday. He told supporters at a rally in Las Vegas last week: “There’s a certain point at which you don’t want to hear ‘happy birthday’. You just want to pretend the day doesn’t exist.”skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIn spite of the bickering over age, the two candidates have agreed to the rules of their first TV debate scheduled for 27 June.Host network CNN released details it hopes will keep the candidates within the realm of a debating format after both candidates refused to share a stage with party rivals during the primary season.According to CNN, Biden and Trump have agreed to a 90-minute debate with commercial breaks, during which they will not be allowed to consult campaign staff.They will appear on a uniform podium stage with left and right positions determined by the flip of a coin. Microphones will be muted except for when it is each person’s time to speak, and each will be provided with a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.There also will not be a studio audience, meaning that the first of two crucial confrontations will be moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash who will, CNN said, “use all tools at their disposal to enforce timing and ensure a civilized discussion”.Biden’s campaign on Saturday touted raising $28m heading into an evening fundraiser in Los Angeles featuring former president Barack Obama, talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel, and actors George Clooney as well as Julia Roberts.Meanwhile, Trump on Saturday was campaigning in Michigan, seeking to rally support from people ranging from churchgoing Black voters to a conservative group popular with white supremacists: Turning Point Action. More

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      Joe Biden’s memory lapses: might he take a leaf out of LBJ’s book? | Letters

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      Re Joe Biden’s response to questions about his memory and mental capacity (Biden was in a fighting mood for surprise speech – but he didn’t win, 9 February), on 31 March 1968, Lyndon Johnson made a speech supporting his decision not to run for a second term in the White House, on the grounds that he wanted to devote his remaining months in office to finding a way of bringing the Vietnam war to a peaceful conclusion. The subtext of course was that, if he ran, he would almost certainly lose on the grounds of his association with events in Vietnam.Surely here is a precedent that Biden and his advisers might consider seriously? He might announce his withdrawal from the presidential race on the grounds of his determination to use his considerable powers, contacts and experience to resolve issues in Gaza as well as in Ukraine. By doing so, he would turn the focus of the age-related issues sharply towards Donald Trump while giving his party the time and opportunity to create a campaign that would command greater support from members of his party and electors more generally.Michael J RyanHull Marina Hyde is quite right (Trump is too old and incited a coup. Biden is too old and mixes up names. America, how to choose?, 9 January). Biden is too old, he doesn’t walk like a 40-year-old and he does not have the memory of one either. However, he does have the sense to employ younger people who have all their marbles and are law-abiding, and he does not want to be a dictator. Common sense and decency are rare in politics, but essential for the president of the US. His only weakness is that he has not yet found out how to deal with Benjamin Netanyahu.Jeffrey FrankelLisbon, Portugal Re Marina Hyde’s article about Joe Biden, I’m 81, and active and healthy, as are many of my friends. All with long professional careers behind us. We know we couldn’t do it now. Neither can Joe Biden. A fact, not a fault. Paula JonesLondon Regardless of his age, Joe Biden should reassure the US electorate that, like any effective leader, he surrounds himself with experts in every field and relies on their wise counsel to make smart decisions. Only a fool would hire gullible yes men and expect anything other than a disaster.Andrew LugtonHarrow, London More

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      Gerontocracy: the exceptionally old political class that governs the US

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      Gerontocracy: the exceptionally old political class that governs the USJoe Biden and members of Congress are increasingly long in the tooth – and more and more out of step with a much younger US public It is the year of the octogenarian. American TV viewers can find Patrick Stewart, 82, boldly going in a new series of Star Trek: Picard and 80-year-old Harrison Ford starring in two shows plus a trailer for the fifth installment of Indiana Jones.And a switch to the news is likely to serve up Joe Biden, at 80 the oldest president in US history, or Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, who turns 81 on Monday. But while action heroes are evergreen, the political class is facing demands for generational change.California senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, announces she will not seek re-electionRead more“America is not past our prime – it’s just that our politicians are past theirs,” Nikki Haley, 51, told a crowd of several hundred people in Charleston, South Carolina, as she launched her candidacy for president in 2024.It was a shot across the bow of not only Biden but former US president Donald Trump, who leads most opinion polls for the Republican nomination but is 76 years old. Haley, notably, mentioned Trump’s name only once and avoided criticisms of him or his administration, in which she served as UN ambassador.Instead, the former South Carolina governor called for a “new generation” of leaders and said she would support a “mandatory mental competency test for politicians over 75 years old”. It was a clue that in a party long shaped in Trump’s image, where ideological differences are likely to be slight, his senior status could offer primary election rivals a line of attack.Lanhee Chen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution thinktank at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, said: “She said what a lot of people are thinking, or are maybe afraid to say, and for that she deserves a lot of credit. The basic foundation of her argument, which is that we need to turn the page and find a new generation of leadership, is 100% right.”Gerontocracy crept up on Washington slowly but inexorably. Biden, elected to the Senate in 1972, has been a public figure for half a century and, if re-elected as president, would be 86 at the end of his second term. At a recent commemorative event at the White House he hosted Bill Clinton, who was president three decades ago – but is four years his junior.The octogenarian McConnell is the longest-serving leader in the history of the Senate and has offered no hint of retirement. Chuck Schumer, Democratic majority leader in the same chamber, is 72. Senator Bernie Sanders, standard bearer of the left in the past two Democratic primaries, is 81.But there are finally signs of erosion in the grey wall. Last month Patrick Leahy, 82, a Democrat from Vermont, stepped down after 48 years in the Senate. Last week Senator Dianne Feinstein of California announced her retirement at 89 after months of difficult debate about her mental fitness.Most profoundly, last month saw Democrats’ top three leaders in the House – Nancy Pelosi, 82, Steny Hoyer, 83, and 82-year-old Jim Clyburn – make way for a new generation in Hakeem Jeffries, 52, Katherine Clark, 59, and 43-year-old Peter Aguilar, as well as the arrival of Maxwell Frost, now 26, hailed as the first Gen Z congressman.Presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle may now seek to harness this hunger for change in the contest for the world’s most stressful job in 2024. A CNBC All-America Economic Survey in December found that 70% of Americans do not want Biden to run for re-election, giving his age as the principal reason.Chen, who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for California state controller last year, commented: “He has exhibited some of the manifestations of somebody who probably has seen better days and that’s hard to hide on the campaign trail. There’s a big difference between running for president at 70 or 75 – and what was possible in the 2020 election when Covid was still raging and a lot of the interactions were different – than running in 2024. I do think his age is going to be an issue.”Biden typically brushes off such talk with the simple refrain: “Watch me.” The president underwent a routine medical checkup this week and Dr Kevin O’Connor, his personal physician since 2009, concluded that Biden “remains a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency”.Karine Jean-Pierre, 48, the White House press secretary, said: “If you watch him, you’ll see that he has a grueling schedule that he keeps up with, that sometimes some of us are not able to keep up with.”Noting Biden’s string of legislative achievements, she added: “It is surprising that we get this question when you look at this record of this president and what he has been able to do and deliver for the American people.”After a strong performance in the midterm elections, a serious challenge to Biden from within the Democratic party still looks unlikely. Defenders say the obsession with his age merely illustrates his lack of other vulnerabilities after two years in which he has done much to win over moderates and progressives.Tara Setmayer, a former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill, asked: “Did anybody watch the State of the Union? Joe Biden is fully capable of executing his job as president of the United States. He’s in better shape in some people half of his age. So they need to start focusing on the positives because repetition creates reality: perception is reality in politics.“It’s a distraction and it undercuts the successes that Joe Biden actually has as president of the United States. There is much more concern over Donald Trump’s mental acuity and physical presence than Joe Biden. Joe Biden can run circles around Donald Trump.”A White House doctor once memorably proclaimed that Trump has “incredible genes” and could have lived to 200 years old if only he had been on a better diet. But on the Republican side he could face challenges not only from Haley but Florida governor Ron DeSantis, 44, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, 59, former vice-president Mike Pence, 63, and 57-year-old Senator Tim Scott.Each has previously endorsed Trump’s “Make America great again” mantra and may now struggle to disavow it. No-holds-barred attacks on Trump himself risk alienating his fervent base. But as Haley showed this week, the promise of generational change might serve as a coded rebuke in party that is no stranger to dog whistles.Drexel Heard, 36, who was the youngest executive director of the biggest Democratic party in the country (Los Angeles county), said: “Hypocrisy is a weird thing in American politics. It’s going to be interesting to see if Nikki Haley only talks about Joe Biden’s age and doesn’t talk about Donald Trump’s age and how the media calls her out on that. She’s going to say things like: ‘Well, you know, I’m just saying that we need generational change.’ She’s never going to call Donald Trump out.”Trump will not be the first Republican candidate to face questions over his age. At a debate in 1984, the moderator reminded Ronald Reagan that he was already the oldest president in history at that time. Reagan, 73, replied: “I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” Even his Democratic opponent, Walter Mondale, laughed at the line. Reagan won re-election in a landslide.Trump, for his part, will have an opportunity to silence Republican doubters at his raucous campaign rallies. Bill Galston, a former policy adviser to Clinton, said: “If he can’t do that, if he seems older and less energetic, then I can imagine the generational appeal sticking. But if his juices start flowing and he is able to do what he did seven years ago, then the generational appeal will be likely to fall somewhat flat.”Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington, and a 77-year-old grandfather, added that it is not the “consensus view” among Republicans than Trump is too old to move back into the White House. “There’s a lot more support inside the Democratic party for the proposition that Biden is too old than there is inside the Republican party for the parallel proposition that Trump is too old,” he said.Of all the Congresses since 1789, the current one has the second oldest Senate (average age 63.9) and third oldest House of Representatives (average age 57.5). Critics say the backup of talent puts it out of step with the American public, whose average age is 38. One example is around the tech sector and social media as members of Congress have often struggled to keep pace with rapid change and its implications for society.Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said: “I’m 70, so I have great sympathy for these people: 80 is looking a lot younger than it used to, as far as I’m concerned. But no, it’s ridiculous. We’ve got to get back to electing people in their 50s and early 60s.”“That’s the right time for president. You have a good chance of remaining reasonably healthy for eight years if you get a second term. Everybody knows that makes more sense but here we are. What can you say? This was the option we were given in 2020 and we’re going to get essentially the same one in 2024.”TopicsUS newsUS politicsAgeingUS CongressUS SenateHouse of RepresentativesJoe BidenfeaturesReuse this content More

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      The president and Senate are the oldest in US history – what’s stopping a younger generation breaking through? | Arwa Mahdawi

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      OpinionUS CongressThe president and Senate are the oldest in US history – what’s stopping a younger generation breaking through?Arwa MahdawiThere’s nothing wrong with senators being in their 70s and 80s – but perhaps it’s time to reassess our ideas of leadership Tue 9 Nov 2021 10.12 ESTLast modified on Tue 9 Nov 2021 14.12 ESTNikki Haley should have joined the circus, because she is great at walking a tightrope. Ever since she left her position as Donald Trump’s ambassador to the UN in 2018, Haley has kept on the right side of the former president, while simultaneously keeping a safe distance from Trumpism. She has criticised Trump just enough that she can cut ties with him should he become a liability; she has also backed him just enough to count him as an ally should he prove useful. Haley, who is expected to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, alternates between throwing red meat to Trump’s base and keeping one foot in polite society. Hers is a very polished populism.Haley’s balancing act was on full display last week, during an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, during which she was asked about the mental health of Joe Biden. Haley cannily avoided commenting directly on Biden, who turns 79 this month, but did make pointed remarks about the need for cognitive tests for ageing politicians. She was rude under the guise of reasonableness.“Let’s face it, we’ve got a lot of people in leadership positions that are old,” Haley said. “That’s a fact … this shouldn’t be partisan. We should seriously be looking at the ages of the people that are running our country and understand if that’s what we want.”Buried within the ageism, Haley has a point. Biden is the oldest sitting president in US history. Meanwhile, the current US Senate is the oldest in history, with an average age of 64.3 years. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest senator, is 88 and has held her California seat since 1992. She is closely followed by the Iowa senator Chuck Grassley, also 88, who has been in his job for four decades. Six senators are at least 80; 23 are in their 70s.There is nothing wrong with politicians being in their 70s or 80s. Experience can be an important asset, and, while we tend to associate youth with energy and innovative thinking, some of the oldest politicians in the US have the most dynamic ideas. Senator Ed Markey, 75, co-sponsored the green new deal. Bernie Sanders, 80, captured young people’s passion like no other US politician in recent years – as did Jeremy Corbyn, 72, in the UK. Meanwhile, fresh-faced Pete Buttigieg, 39, whose 2020 ambitions made him the first competitive millennial presidential candidate, ran on stale ideas. He is a McKinsey millennial, whose status quo platform resonates better with older voters than with his peers. You can sell out at any age.That said, it is worth asking if there is a reason why US leadership skews so old, particularly as the US is an outlier among the countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in this respect. The New York Times noted last year that the average OECD leader is almost 25 years younger than Biden. Again, while it is good to have politicians above retirement age – there is a problem if it is because the political structure is making it hard for a new generation to rise to the top.The US system massively favours incumbents: members of the US Congress are typically re-elected about 90% of the time. That breeds complacency. It can also breed myopia. Barack Obama, for example, has admitted that fundraising for his 2004 Senate campaign made him more like his wealthy donors: “I spent more and more of my time above the fray, outside the world of immediate hunger, disappointment, fear, irrationality and frequent hardship of the other 99% … I suspect this is true for every senator: the longer you are a senator, the narrower the scope of your interactions.”Ultimately, it is not the age of our politicians we need to worry about. What matters is having a government that represents the people it serves. Age limits won’t solve that, nor will cognitive tests, but reassessing our ideas about leadership might. Truly great leaders are not the people who cling to power the longest; they are the ones willing to pass the baton to a new generation.
      Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
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      The age of the elderly candidate: how two septuagenarians came to be running for president

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      [embedded content]
      “I woke up and I felt good,” Donald Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Arizona, slamming the side of his lectern as he described hospitalisation with the coronavirus. “I said, ‘Get me out of here’. Boom! Superman!”
      As the US president mimed Clark Kent ripping up open his shirt to reveal the Man of Steel’s “S” logo, the crowd chanted: “Superman! Superman! Superman!” The rally ended with loudspeakers booming Y.M.C.A by Village People: “Young man, there’s no need to feel down …”
      Seventy-four years old and clinically obese, Trump appears eager to prove his virility. He is fighting an election against a man who is even older – Joe Biden turns 78 next month. If Biden wins, he will eclipse Trump’s own record as the oldest person to be sworn in as president.
      The statistics are counterintuitive in a society that can often seem obsessed with youth. Voters’ thirst for change did not prevent this election being contested by two septuagenarian white men. But it has fuelled debate over whether the mental and physical toll of old age could impair the decision-making of the person with the nuclear codes. More