Yes
Joe Biden (81) is the oldest president in United States history. Recent polls show 73 percent of voters believe that Biden is too old to be effective as president. Biden called Donald Trump the “Sitting President” in a recent speech. In Biden’s State of the Union Address, he called Laken Riley, a University of Georgia Nursing student whose “skull was bashed in” by an illegal immigrant, “Lincoln Riley.” This is not the first time that Biden has forgotten or messed up names. In too long a list some include: confusing President Macron with Francois Mitterand (who died in 1996), calling the President of Egypt “the President of Mexico,” forgetting the name of Hamas, thinking Ukraine is Gaza and countless other gaffes. Biden’s age is the only thing that Democrats need to worry about. How does a man who does not know that he is president run the country?
There is no better example to show Biden’s cognitive decline other than a Department Of Justice Special Counsel report from 2024 which described Biden “as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” The same report recommended not to prosecute Joe Biden on charges for retaining Classified Documents from his time as Vice President, because it is “a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.” The report said that “Mr. Biden’s memory also appeared to have significant limitations,” saying that “Mr. Biden’s recorded conversations with Zwonitzer from 2017 are often painfully slow, with Mr. Biden struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries.” The report continues, saying that “in his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse. He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended, and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began. He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. His memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he ‘had a real difference’ of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama.” Joe Biden’s memory is clearly compromised and should disqualify him from office. This report is devastating for any man, let alone for one running for the most important office in the world. We need to set the bar at the highest point possible rather than celebrating when our president gives a–arguably–mistake free speech.
While his primary opponent is also old and in decline, it does not make age a non-issue. Any politically free-minded person could see that both of the mainstream candidates are not effective leaders and seek a change. How do we trust the highest position in government to a man who can’t keep straight the names of countries and cities involved in wars that he is funding? Joe Biden’s age makes him an unrunable candidate.
No
Inspirational, powerful, visionary: three words that do not define our presumptive presidential candidates. For all of Donald Trump’s yapping, he is, at the core, an inherited billionaire with a dirty personal background wrapped in translucent populism. To his credit, Biden has a bit of a better backstory, but he was an incumbent Vice President who in 2016 failed to win his own party’s nomination. Despite a lack of awe-inspiring backgrounds the harshest, deepest criticism against both candidates comes down to their age and fitness.
At the spry ages of 77 and 81, these great-grandfathers still remember the times before jet-powered aircraft existed. They were alive when the Berlin Wall was put up and were in their 40s when the wall came down. Out of touch, relics of the past and incapable of operating an iPhone, these presidents are just what we have for this election. Here’s why it isn’t so bad.
The good news with Biden is that he’s proven not to be stubborn, which is exactly the opposite of Trump’s proud defiance of advisors during his presidency. The reality is that the vast majority of the executive branch is completed not by the commander-in-chief but by who he hires. The president also does not come up with every policy or come up with every idea. Thousands of people are experts in certain topics whose entire job is to advise the government. With Biden, we already know he will take a measured and reasonable approach after hearing out the experts. Remember, Trump told us to drink bleach while Biden echoed the best doctors in the world. We don’t need a particularly exceptional leader. We need one who is smart and acts consistently in the best interests of their constituents. Historians who are experts at analyzing past presidents and the country’s trajectory have ranked Biden in a solid 14th place far ahead of Trump, who is at the bottom of the pack.
Despite his age, Biden also delivered a fiery State of the Union Speech which worked wonders to restore confidence in his abilities as a leader. He also remains aware of current events and even argued briefly with Majorie Taylor Green proving that he is more cognizant than just the speech his staffers wrote for him. While Trump may come across as more energetic and powerful in campaign speeches and debates, he also has made an equal (if not more) amount of gaffs throughout his Presidency repeatedly making baseless claims including that by drinking bleach you could cure COVID (poisoning cases were up 121 percent the next month). Trump also has made dozens of reckless comments about the conflict in Ukraine hinting that he would no longer support Ukraine.
Biden might be old, but his ideas and beliefs are intended to modernize our country and push our country forward. He might have his gaffs, but the reality is that all people sometimes misspeak and consider that our last president told us all to drink bleach.
