Biden Says He Took a ‘Hard Look’ at Age Question Before Running Again

Jordan Fabian
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden dismissed concerns about his age as he launched his 2024 reelection bid, saying he believed voters endorsed his performance in office.

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Biden said he had considered the issue before making his decision - joking that when it was mentioned that he was 80 years old, the number “doesn’t register” - but ultimately felt he was up to the task. Biden also said that he would have run even if former President Donald Trump was not in the race.

“I took a hard look at it before I decided to run,” Biden said Wednesday during a press conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at the White House.

He also said he was unconcerned by polls that show voters in both parties worried that he is too old for the nation’s highest office, saying that support for incumbent presidents regularly falls ahead of reelection bids.

“Everybody running for reelection in this time has been in the same position — there’s nothing new about that,” he said. “You’re making the sound like Biden is really underwater.”

While Biden’s overall approval ratings are roughly in line with where former President Donald Trump’s were when he unsuccessfully sought reelection, surveys do show a particular concern about the president’s age. In an NBC News poll released earlier this week, 70% of all Americans said they did not believe Biden should seek a second term. Of that group, 48% said age was a major reason they thought he should not run again, while 21% said it was a minor concern.

But voters also share the concern about Trump, 76, who Biden said Wednesday he is particularly well-suited to face.

“I may not be the only one, but I know him well and I know the danger he presents to our democracy,” Biden said.

Biden formally launched his campaign for a second term Tuesday, calling on Americans to let him “finish this job” and again count on him to save the nation’s democracy from Trump.

Though Biden defeated Trump in 2020, he may find a repeat performance tough to accomplish — even with the former president facing criminal indictments. Biden’s approval ratings have hovered around 40%, with voters weary from the pandemic and nagging inflation. The threat of an economic recession could also hurt the president’s chances of winning another four years in the White House.

Read More: Biden Launches 2024 Campaign, Asking to ‘Finish This Job’

Trump’s vise grip on the Republican Party has buttressed Biden’s case for running again. After a faltering start to his 2020 campaign, Biden emerged as the consensus choice of Democrats to beat Trump and did so.

Since then, no other figure in the party has posed as a serious challenge to Biden. His team is betting that his experience and record will create a sharp contrast with Trump or another GOP candidate.

Biden’s reelection video strongly suggested he plans to run against what he called Republicans’ “MAGA extremism” rather than focus heavily on his policy achievements. He said if the GOP were to take power, abortion rights, voting rights and democracy itself could be at risk. The video contained footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection that Trump instigated and far-right figures like Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The president does not plan to hit the campaign trail right away. But Biden and his team spent Tuesday following the announcement reaching out to Democratic governors, battleground state officials and constituent groups to shore up support, according to a campaign official. Around 2,000 people participated in those calls and meetings, the official said.

The campaign on Wednesday also launched its first television advertisement of the election.

--With assistance from Justin Sink, Akayla Gardner and Jenny Leonard.

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