Old Joe ‘Old’ Biden (Old) Is Too Old to Be President (He’s Old)

By Charles C. W. Cooke

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

 

I see that the talking point this morning (e.g. here, here, here, here) is that Joe Biden is most certainly not too old to be president, that voters need to understand that fact, and that the press should stop saying otherwise lest it do the same thing that it did with Hillary’s emails (i.e. tell the truth about something real).

 

I’ve thought about this over my coffee, and I’ve decided that . . . er, no, I’m not going to play along with that. At the Bulwark, Mona Charen suggests that there is nothing wrong with Biden, and that, if anything, the president’s team is doing the public a disservice by keeping Biden away from the cameras:

 

There is just no way to watch Biden’s Hanoi press conference and not recognize that his brain is working fine. He responds to questions in appropriate fashion. His words are diplomatically chosen, and his thoughts follow in logical order. He remembers what he just said a few minutes ago and doesn’t repeat himself (or not more than the average politician).

 

This isn’t true. None of it is true. Joe Biden’s brain isn’t working fine. He doesn’t respond to questions in an appropriate fashion. His words aren’t diplomatically chosen. His thoughts don’t follow in logical order. And, no, he doesn’t remember what he’s just said — or even where he was on 9/11. The reason that “73 percent are seriously concerned that his physical and mental health might not be adequate for another term” is that his physical and mental health are not adequate for another term. He’s ancient, superannuated, fossilized, geriatric, enfeebled. He’s “up there,” he’s “getting on,” he’s “well-seasoned.” He’s an antique. It would be a massive, massive risk to re-elect Joe Biden because, actuarially, there is a reasonable chance that he will die pretty soon. I have friends in England who do not follow American politics — and who would certainly not agree with my politics if they did — who have texted me to ask if the guy is okay, given that he “looks like a skull.” Strangers notice it. Partisans notice it. Everyone notices it. The dividing line on this one is the willingness to say it aloud. If you have eyes and ears, you’ve seen and heard it. Joe Biden is too old to be president. Hell, Joe Biden is too old to be a greeter at Wal-Mart. I don’t care if that’s rude or inconvenient to confirm. It’s true.

 

Or, to put it another way: Joe Biden is too old to be president. He’s too old to be president now, he’s too old to be president next year, he’s too old to be president in 2025. He’d be too old at his next inauguration, he’d be too old by the next set of midterms, he’d be too old when his second term wrapped up. He’s not vigorous or eloquent or diplomatic; he’s a rambling, angry, senile embarrassment. He can’t do the job at home, and he can’t do the job abroad. He can’t think, he can’t manage, he can’t talk. His judgment has always been poor, and he’s always been a terrible and dishonest person, and these flaws have been exacerbated by his age. Shout at me all you want, but this isn’t about politics. I think Mitch McConnell is one of the two most important and effective conservative politicians since World War II, and, like the editors of National Review, I also think that he is too old to keep his job. As for Trump? He, too, is too old to be president — which is one of the many, many reasons that I won’t be voting for him if he’s the nominee.

 

What I won’t be doing, however, is allowing my distaste for Trump to cloud my judgment of Joe Biden. The idea that, because Trump is awful Biden therefore has to be good is quite popular in the press, but that does not change the fact that it is a non sequitur. Biden is too old. He will be too old irrespective of who the Republicans choose as their nominee, or what the party’s platform includes, or what happens in the wider world. His age is a fact, and it is increasing by the second. I do not always have cause to praise America’s voters, but in this circumstance I think some appreciation is warranted. The electorate can see it, and it is not shy about recording that. Per the most recent poll, 77 percent of Americans believe that Biden is too old — a number that includes 89 percent of Republicans and 69 percent of Democrats. He’s old. O-L-D. Good luck pretending otherwise, guys.