Psaki Defends Biden's Age for '24 Run: 'You Know Trump Is 76, Right?' (Newsmax)
By Luca Cacciatore | Monday, 14 November 2022 07:24 PM EST
MSNBC host Jen Psaki took to Twitter on Monday in defense of her former boss, President Joe Biden, sounding off on those who take issue with his age going into the 2024 election.
“Just throwing out there. For everyone who is arguing the reason @POTUS shouldn’t run again is because of his age … you know Donald Trump is 76[,] right?” the one-time White House press secretary stated.
Biden is the oldest president in American history and four years older than Trump, making him close to 82 come election day in 2024. That has not stopped the president from hinting at seeking another term.
Last week, Biden gave doubters of his reelection chances in 2024 a single message: “watch me.” He then indicated that any choice to run would ultimately be a “family decision” likely announced “early next year.”
“I think everybody wants me to run, but we’re going to have discussions about it,” Biden said.
The possibility of Biden running for a second term was bolstered following surprising Tuesday’s midterm election results, which saw Democrats retain control of the Senate and only come short in the House by several seats.
“Even before the midterms, Biden was running ahead of Donald Trump,” Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told The New York Times.
“Now you’ve got Biden, he has the wind behind his back, he’s gotten a lift from doing better than expected, while Trump is obviously part of a Republican Party meltdown. When you look at it in that frame, Biden has emerged in a stronger position.”
But Norman Solomon, head of the progressive group RootsAction.org, argued to The Times that the Democrats' performance on Tuesday was likely despite Biden’s low approval ratings, not due to his popularity.
“It might seem counterintuitive in the absence of a ‘red wave,’ but Biden is actually an albatross around the neck of his party,” Solomon claimed. “Voters prevented [a] disaster in the midterms despite Biden, not because of him. In effect, he’s promising to be a drag on the party and its prospects heading into 2024.”