Last week, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton joined 'Alex Wagner Tonight' on MSNBC to discuss the upcoming 2024 presidential election. During the conversation, Clinton admitted that Biden's age is a legitimate issue for voters, particularly after the release of special counsel Robert Hur's report on Biden's mishandling of classified documents, which noted multiple memory lapses during Hur's interview with the president.
Wagner, overjoyed and excited to be interviewing Clinton throughout the interview with softball questions, asked how Biden should deal with the age issue during the campaign. "What should he do on this," the MSNBC host asked. "Is it a matter of underscoring his boundless energy, or should he embrace his eight decades on Earth and the great wisdom he's gained?"
"All of the above. I talked to people in the White House all the time, and you know, they know it's an issue," Clinton explained. "It's a legitimate issue. It's a legitimate issue for Trump, who's only three years younger. So, it's an issue. Once you say that, then you also have to talk about what's at stake in the election."
As previously reported by the DC Enquirer, Biden has struggled to convince Americans that he can serve another four-year term, with a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll showing 86 percent of respondents don't think Biden can serve another term. The age issue will only become more pressing for Biden as the Hur report's materials become more publicized, given how damning the assessment was coming from Biden's own Department of Justice.
"In an 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 ('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?')," the report reads. "He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him."
"We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," the report added.
While the White House has been in damage control since Thursday, Biden's past comments on the age issue are working against him. In an interview in 2018, Biden said that age is a "legitimate issue" that all Americans should consider when selecting a president. "I think people are going to judge me on my vitality. Can I still run up the steps of Air Force Two? Am I still in good shape? Do I have all my faculties? Am I energetic?" Biden said at the time. "I think it's totally legitimate."
WATCH:You can follow Sterling on X/Twitter here.Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offers her advice for how President Joe Biden should address concerns about his age. pic.twitter.com/2WwVNQm5S6
— Alex Wagner Tonight (@WagnerTonight) February 10, 2024
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