The Washington Post has called on President Joe Biden to transparently address concerns about his age and overall health before the 2024 election.
Biden is America’s oldest president and, if re-elected, would be 82 years old at the 2025 inauguration.
The Washington Post’s editorial board released an opinion piece on May 19 saying Biden’s age is “his greatest vulnerability in a general election” and that the public has a right to know “what he is doing to maintain” his health.
“Mr. Biden’s age is not inevitably the decisive issue, but it is a real one, and he will have to address it, forthrightly, whether the choice in 2024 is between him and Mr. Trump or another Republican,” wrote the staff. “The public has a right to know details about his health, physical and mental, and about what he is doing to maintain it. The president also has an obligation to interact with the public, especially with reporters, regularly, and in settings that are not tightly controlled by the White House staff.”
The Washington Post said Biden is “unopposed except by two long shots within the Democratic Party” – referring to lawyer Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and author Marianne Williamson.
The editorial board also noted that former President Donald Trump, the current front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, will be 78 on Election Day but suggested his age will be less of a concern for voters.
The Washington Post wrote:To be sure, Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden are well-known figures about whom voters have already formed strong opinions. In a rematch between them, the age issue might change the votes of only a relative handful of people. Indeed, advanced age is a question mark for Mr. Trump, too, though one that’s overshadowed by his defects of character, temperament and extremism.
Verbal gaffes and changes in his physical demeanor have raised questions about Biden’s cognitive ability and overall well-being.
Clips of Biden forgetting Australian Prime Minster Scott Morrison’s name, asking for the whereabouts of deceased Congresswoman Jackie Walorski, reading teleprompter directions, and getting seemingly lost while exiting a stage have been widely circulated online.
There was public speculation that Biden has some type of degenerative neurological issue, such as Alzheimer's, after a video of the president walking stiffly to a car was posted online.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Biden’s personal physician, declared the president is “fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations” in February when the White House released his second health summary.
O’Connor attributed his “perceptibly stiffened gait” to “degenerative (‘wear and tear’) osteoarthritic changes” in his spine – noting his gait “has not worsened” since 2022.
After the first year of his presidency, The Daily Mail reported Biden has conducted fewer press conferences than any of the five presidents before him. He also had done 22 interviews – significantly fewer than six immediate predecessors.
The outlet reported: In Year One, President Biden has only given nine formal press conferences – six solo and three jointly with visiting foreign leaders. He has also conducted 22 media interviews. By comparison, at this point in their respective presidencies Donald Trump conducted 21 press conferences, Barack Obama was at 27, George W. Bush at 19, Bill Clinton at 38 and George H. W. Bush at 31. Ronald Reagan only held six news conferences in 1981 because his schedule was scaled back early in his first term in 1981 after an assassination attempt. Reagan did, however, engaged in 59 interviews in his first year as president. The dismal showing from Biden only furthers speculation that the president is not running the show at the White House, which is fueled by Biden's continued comments during public appearances that his press team doesn't want him speaking to members of the media.
Biden released a pre-recorded video on April 25 announcing his reelection campaign.
