President Biden has been warned by top aides and his wife Jill to get more rest and be more mindful of his health in the run-up to 2024 – while he claims he “feels much younger” than his 81 years, according to a new report.
The age dynamic has caused tension inside the White House, according to Axios, which reports that aides have been known to roll their eyes at Biden’s insistence that he’s feeling cheerful.
“He’s his own worst enemy when it comes to his schedule,” a former Biden adviser told the outlet, which reported in April that aides were having trouble booking presidential events at certain times of the day — with the result that Biden’s agenda was dominated by events between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m
Both Republican and Democratic voters have expressed concern in polls this year that Biden, who will be 86 at the end of a potential second term, lacks the mental fitness to do the job.
President Biden has complained about concerns about his age to White House aides and often told them that he “feels much younger” than his 81 years, according to a new Axios report. Getty Images The dynamic is fueling tension in the West Wing, with several senior aides and first lady Jill Biden encouraging the president to take it easy as he continues his 2024 campaign. AFP via Getty Images
“Rest again?” responded Spectator USA contributing editor Stephen L. Miller on X to the report. “He makes almost two public appearances a week, does not take questions or hold press conferences. He has to wear special shoes and step on the baby [Air Force One] and was in Delaware 4 days a week, and they told him to rest more.”
“He can’t do the job,” Miller added.
“I’m surprised Biden aides think he’s doing too much right now and needs ‘more rest,'” agreed policy analyst Anthony LaMesa. “He has skipped the summit and the journey; rarely interact with the people and the press. Biden cannot give 100% to the presidency, let alone his campaign. Time for him to retire.”
Biden – who has served in Washington for more than half a century – has told the American public that he is aware of their concerns about his time in the Oval Office, albeit obliquely in jest. Corbis via Getty Images
Biden – who has served in Washington for half a century – has tried to tell the American public that he is aware of their concerns about him remaining in the Oval Office, often by joking about his advanced age.
During a Nov. 20 White House turkey pardoning ceremony, the president quipped that it’s “hard to turn 60,” before sharing a widely mocked birthday photo of a cake filled with lit candles.
“Turns out on your 146th birthday, you ran out of room for candles!” a post on the president’s Instagram account read.
The clumsy commander-in-chief has also tripped several times while climbing the stairs of Air Force One, and his team has used physical therapists to help improve balance. Reuters
Earlier this year, Biden told reporters when asked about his age: “I can’t say the number. It doesn’t — it doesn’t register with me.”
The clumsy commander-in-chief has also tripped several times while climbing the stairs of the presidential plane, and his team has used a physical therapist to help improve his balance and avoid a potentially catastrophic fall.
In June, Biden hit the decks at the Air Force Academy commencement ceremony after addressing graduating cadets – drawing gasps from the crowd.
In June, he hit the decks at the Air Force Academy commencement ceremony after addressing graduating cadets – drawing gasps of surprise from the crowd. AFP via Getty Images
That has led some Biden allies to hope he will be more honest and clear about the topic.
“His age is clearly something voters are concerned about, fairly or not,” a former White House official told Axios, “and yelling, ‘Nuh-uh’ doesn’t cut it.”
Former President Ronald Reagan was the oldest US president until former President Donald Trump won the office at age 70 — but Biden surpassed that record by defeating Trump at age 77 in 2020.
Longtime Biden watchers have tried to downplay concerns about his abilities.
“This is something Biden has done his whole life — he’s always wanted to do more,” Ted Kaufman, Biden’s former chief of staff and briefly his successor as senator from Delaware, told Axios.
Former President Ronald Reagan at age 69 had been the oldest US president in history until former President Donald Trump won office at age 70 — but Biden surpassed both records in 2020 at age 77. Getty Images
Jill Biden previously expressed concern to then-presidential chief of staff Steve Ricchetti at the end of her husband’s time in the Obama White House that Joe was “tired,” “not sleeping” and the nonstop work “was going to kill him.”
Pleas from the then-second lady and Ricchetti prompted Biden to “calm down for a moment,” the president said in his 2017 memoir “My Promise, Father.”
“Jill didn’t want him to do as much as he wanted to do. And he didn’t want him to do what he wanted to do,” Kaufman recalled.
“Since first running for the Senate, President Biden has always been a hard worker eager to do more than any schedule could accommodate,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Axios in a statement.
“Like when he became the first president to visit two war zones not controlled by the US military, his late-night talks with members of Congress when he passed the most innovative legislative agenda in modern history, or this past week when he continued to work. hours on critical national security priorities long after House Republicans stopped trying and left Washington for the holidays.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
