Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

‘What’s too old?’ Joe Biden turns 80, the first octogenarian president in US history<!-- wp:html --><div> <div class="_1665V _2q-Vk"> <p>Biden’s occasional verbal stumbles and tendency to stray from the script during live appearances have been seized upon by his Republican critics as proof that he is too old for the job. His supporters say the president, who overcame a childhood stutter, has been improvising in public speeches for decades.</p> <p><span class="_2wzgv D5idv _3lVFK"><span class="_29Qt8"></span><span class="_3qqDc">Charging</span></span></p> <p>Biden’s prospects for a second term received a boost last week when Democrats fared better than expected in midterm congressional and gubernatorial elections.</p> <p>When asked about concerns about Biden’s age before his 80th birthday, the White House said his recent record speaks for itself.</p> <p>“As then-candidate Biden said in 2019, ‘watch him,’” spokesman Andrew Bates responded.</p> </div> <div class="_1665V _2q-Vk"> <p>“Since then, he has won the most votes in American history, achieved unprecedented job creation, made big corporations pay their fair share in taxes, authorized Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, and signed the most significant gun reform in 30 years and the largest investment in infrastructure since the 1950s,” Bates said, calling it “the most successful legislative record of any president since Lyndon Johnson.”</p> <p><span class="_2wzgv D5idv _3lVFK"><span class="_29Qt8"></span><span class="_3qqDc">Charging</span></span></p> <p>“Keep watching,” he added.</p> <p>Some Biden supporters said they admired the Democrats’ success under Biden but were still unsure about a possible next term.</p> <p>“I think he’s done a great job in the time he’s had,” Illinois resident Paul Klenck said. “I am concerned that someone over the age of 80 will serve as president. I can’t think of a job more demanding than that.”</p> </div> <div class="_1665V _2q-Vk"> <p>Others said the criticism of Biden’s age was discriminatory.</p> <p><span class="_2wzgv D5idv _3lVFK"><span class="_29Qt8"></span><span class="_3qqDc">Charging</span></span></p> <p>“Some 60-year-olds shouldn’t be approaching political power,” Catharine Stimpson, 86, a New York City resident, said in an interview. “I think the satire on him and the mockery of him is ageism. So let’s take a look at the individual.”</p> <p>When asked about his birthday in a recent MSNBC interview, Biden had a reaction that might be familiar to anyone over 50: disbelief. “I can’t even tell how old I’m going to be. I can’t even take it out of my mouth,” she said.</p> <p>Biden said the questions about his age were “totally legitimate” but that his intention was to find another term.</p> </div> <div class="_1665V _2q-Vk"> <p>The outgoing Congress is one of the oldest in US history, with more than half of the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the Senate made up of the “Baby Boomer” generation born between 1946 and 1964, shows show Pew Research.</p> <p>Some members have years with Biden and Trump. The outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is 82 years old. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is 80. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, 89, won another six-year term last week.</p> <h3><strong>Aging America, aging leaders</strong></h3> <p>The public is not necessarily comfortable with that situation. Two-thirds of Americans surveyed support the idea of ​​having a higher age limit for federal officials, including the president, members of Congress and Supreme Court justices, the Reuters poll shows.</p> <p>Yet Biden doesn’t even register in the top 10 list of the world’s oldest current serving leaders, which is headed by 89-year-old Cameroonian President Paul Biya.</p> </div> <div class="_1665V _2q-Vk"> <p>“There is a reason other societies look to their elders for wisdom and guidance. It’s because they have that experience, which shouldn’t be discounted,” said Deborah Kado, co-director of Stanford University’s center for longevity.</p> <p>Kado and other aging experts said they saw no sign that Biden is failing in his duties.</p> <div class="_1lwW_"></div> <p><span class="_2Li3P">Cameroonian President Paul Biya.</span><span class="_30ROC">Credit:</span>access point</p> <p>Stuart Jay Olshansky, an aging expert at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said Biden may be a member of a subset of older Americans who are “super-aging,” with the mental faculties of people decades younger.</p> <p>“Age has been a weapon and people from the other party, whichever party you’re dealing with, will always try to say that there is something wrong with this individual,” he said. “Those of us who study age as a profession say: ‘Stop using age as a weapon.'”</p> </div> <div class="_1665V _2q-Vk"> <p>The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted online in English across the United States, collected responses from 1,003 adults, including 468 Democrats and 342 Republicans. It has a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of 4 percentage points either way.</p> <p><strong>Reuters</strong></p> <p>Get a note directly from our foreigner correspondents about what’s in the headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.</p> </div> </div><!-- /wp:html -->

Biden’s occasional verbal stumbles and tendency to stray from the script during live appearances have been seized upon by his Republican critics as proof that he is too old for the job. His supporters say the president, who overcame a childhood stutter, has been improvising in public speeches for decades.

Charging

Biden’s prospects for a second term received a boost last week when Democrats fared better than expected in midterm congressional and gubernatorial elections.

When asked about concerns about Biden’s age before his 80th birthday, the White House said his recent record speaks for itself.

“As then-candidate Biden said in 2019, ‘watch him,’” spokesman Andrew Bates responded.

“Since then, he has won the most votes in American history, achieved unprecedented job creation, made big corporations pay their fair share in taxes, authorized Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, and signed the most significant gun reform in 30 years and the largest investment in infrastructure since the 1950s,” Bates said, calling it “the most successful legislative record of any president since Lyndon Johnson.”

Charging

“Keep watching,” he added.

Some Biden supporters said they admired the Democrats’ success under Biden but were still unsure about a possible next term.

“I think he’s done a great job in the time he’s had,” Illinois resident Paul Klenck said. “I am concerned that someone over the age of 80 will serve as president. I can’t think of a job more demanding than that.”

Others said the criticism of Biden’s age was discriminatory.

Charging

“Some 60-year-olds shouldn’t be approaching political power,” Catharine Stimpson, 86, a New York City resident, said in an interview. “I think the satire on him and the mockery of him is ageism. So let’s take a look at the individual.”

When asked about his birthday in a recent MSNBC interview, Biden had a reaction that might be familiar to anyone over 50: disbelief. “I can’t even tell how old I’m going to be. I can’t even take it out of my mouth,” she said.

Biden said the questions about his age were “totally legitimate” but that his intention was to find another term.

The outgoing Congress is one of the oldest in US history, with more than half of the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the Senate made up of the “Baby Boomer” generation born between 1946 and 1964, shows show Pew Research.

Some members have years with Biden and Trump. The outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, is 82 years old. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is 80. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, 89, won another six-year term last week.

Aging America, aging leaders

The public is not necessarily comfortable with that situation. Two-thirds of Americans surveyed support the idea of ​​having a higher age limit for federal officials, including the president, members of Congress and Supreme Court justices, the Reuters poll shows.

Yet Biden doesn’t even register in the top 10 list of the world’s oldest current serving leaders, which is headed by 89-year-old Cameroonian President Paul Biya.

“There is a reason other societies look to their elders for wisdom and guidance. It’s because they have that experience, which shouldn’t be discounted,” said Deborah Kado, co-director of Stanford University’s center for longevity.

Kado and other aging experts said they saw no sign that Biden is failing in his duties.

Cameroonian President Paul Biya.Credit:access point

Stuart Jay Olshansky, an aging expert at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said Biden may be a member of a subset of older Americans who are “super-aging,” with the mental faculties of people decades younger.

“Age has been a weapon and people from the other party, whichever party you’re dealing with, will always try to say that there is something wrong with this individual,” he said. “Those of us who study age as a profession say: ‘Stop using age as a weapon.’”

The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted online in English across the United States, collected responses from 1,003 adults, including 468 Democrats and 342 Republicans. It has a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of 4 percentage points either way.

Reuters

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