Biden shrugs off concerns about age: ‘I feel good’

The 80-year-old Democrat rarely talks about his age. But polls show it’s a matter of overwhelming concern for voters.

Joe Biden says he is confident about what is likely to be a gruelling election battle. Picture: AFP

Joe Biden has addressed the elephant in the room of his 2024 re-election bid: the fact that he is already the oldest president and would be 86 when he stepped down if he wins. The veteran Democrat rarely talks about his age. But polls show it’s a matter of overwhelming concern for voters – and one his Republican opponent will turn into a political weapon.

On Wednesday, the day after the launch of his campaign via video, the 80-year-old said it was normal for people to ask questions. He admitted he’d thought hard about the issue himself. “I respect them taking a hard look at it. I’d take a hard look at it as well – I took a hard look at it before I decided to run,” he said.

Mr Biden said he was confident about what was likely to be a gruelling election battle, all while working in one of the world’s most demanding jobs. “I feel good, I feel excited about the prospects,” he said. “People are going to find out. They are going to see a race and they are going to judge whether I have it or don’t have it.”

He tried joking, saying: “I can’t even say I guess how old I am. I can’t even say the number – it doesn’t register.”

An NBC News poll last weekend found 70 per cent of Americans, including 51 per cent of Democrats, believe he should not run in 2024. And 69 per cent of all respondents who said he shouldn’t run cited concerns over his age as a major or minor reason. If re-elected, Mr Biden would be 82 when he took office for a second term in January 2025. The previously oldest president was Ronald Reagan, who was 77 when he completed his second term in 1989.

Mr Biden seems driven to keep going, not just because that’s what first-term presidents always do but from a sense of mission to stop Donald Trump, who he defeated in 2020, from coming back.

Mr Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, despite being the subject of multiple legal cases. When Mr Biden challenged Mr Trump in 2020, the Republican savaged him over his age, deriding him as “Sleepy Joe” and offering up insults about his mental state. The attack will certainly return, likely in new intensity, if Mr Trump wins his party nomination. Asked if he considered himself the only person who could defeat Mr Trump, Mr Biden said: “I may not be the only one, but I know him well, and I know the danger he presents to our democracy and we’ve been down this road before.”

AFP