Several 80-year-olds weighed in on President Biden’s age and his ability to serve after the release of the Special Counsel report, which highlighted the president’s memory and age.
A group of older, conservative friends in Arizona told the New York Times that the 2024 election was like a choice between “grandpa and crazy,” Biden, who is 81, and Donald Trump, who is 77. They all told the New York Times that they would prefer younger candidates.
“You don’t bounce back,” Jan Kallheim, 83, told the Times. “I don’t care how physically active you are, if you take pills or not — your acuity at 80 isn’t as good as it is at 60. There is deterioration.”
Kallheim, a retired nurse, tends to vote Republican, according to the media outlet, but said she would never vote for Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden held a press conference on Thursday in response to Special Counsel Robert Hur’s description of his age and memory. (Reuters)
“I don’t think like I did when I was younger,” Lorene Bleess, 85, told the Times.
Sarah Shankman, an 80-year-old Democrat who lives in California, told the outlet that she wished the president would step aside.
“I think his heart is in the right place, but I think his ego has gotten in the way,” she said. “I think Biden is having a very difficult time just coming to face the inevitable.”
Others suggested the questions surrounding the president’s age had been blown out of proportion. Some cited the president’s bike rides, as well as an overall bias against older generations.
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)
“I have been in a position where I was asked something on the spot and I have stumbled here and there,” Beverly Edmond, 74 and a Democrat, told the outlet. “It happens, but it is not a reflection of intellect or capability. This has been blown out of proportion.”
Another said he felt “insulted,” on behalf of all older Americans, and said, “I think it’s time in this country we understood everybody’s going to age.”
Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on Biden’s handling of classified documents spotlighted the president’s memory.
“In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse,” the report stated. “He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 — when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’).”
President Joe Biden speaks during the reproductive freedom campaign rally at George Mason University in Manassas, Virginia, on Jan. 23, 2024. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died,” it continued. “And 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.”
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Harry W. Hepburn III, an 82-year-old Republican and supporter of Trump, told the New York Times that he feels “exceptional” for his age, but didn’t believe that was the case for Biden.
“I think he has lost his ability to think on his feet,” he told the outlet. “He scares me. Watch how he walks — he walks like a guy who doesn’t have it anymore.”
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