President Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history, and as he begins his reelection campaign, he is increasingly vocal about his senior age, making jokes about himself and trying to portray his long career in public service as a positive.
At 80 years old, Biden will tell you that he is nearing the end of his career. He’s been at it for quite some time. He believes the “hell of a lot of wisdom” he has gained during that time makes him qualified for a second term.
On Thursday, a reporter joked with Biden about when he plans to have his annual physical.
The 80-year-old leader snarked, “Do you think I need it?”
The octogenarian president occasionally makes jokes about his age, but they are usually embedded in larger comments and used to emphasize other points.
The most notable part of Biden’s speech to the Irish parliament last month was when he said, “I’m at the end of my career, not the beginning.”
Biden remarked to the appreciative throng that he has more life experience than any other U.S. president.
In April, Biden addressed members of the International Union of Operating Engineers in Accokeek, Maryland, telling them, “You guys were founded 122 years ago – that’s not when I got endorsed.”
At an Air Force event last month, Biden said, “I wasn’t there… no matter what the press says.” This was in reference to President Dwight Eisenhower’s address to the first class of the Air Force Academy more than six decades ago.
Whether or not it was intentional, Reagan’s 1984 campaign approach of avoiding queries about his then-73-year-old age was reminiscent of this tactic. Reagan, in a debate with 56-year-old Democrat Walter Mondale, vowed not to “exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
But people knew Ronald Reagan, and Biden is no Ronald Reagan.
