(Washington) The White House praises the “experience” that comes with the years, and the main person involved tries to joke about it, but Joe Biden, who celebrates his 81st birthday on Monday, knows well that age is his main handicap one year before the presidential election.
“It’s my birthday today… Know that it’s not easy to be 60 years old,” the American president joked Monday, saving, as tradition dictates, two turkeys before the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday , during which the Americans will devour these birds in astronomical quantities.
But the Democrat also, during the same event, made one of those confusing remarks which he is accustomed to, and which are the delight of his political opponents.
Referring to happy turkeys “Liberty” and “Bell”, he stressed that obtaining a presidential pardon was “more difficult” than getting tickets for pop star Britney Spears’ world tour, before adding : “She’s over there… It’s pretty hot in Brazil at the moment. »
However, it is the singer Taylor Swift who is currently performing in Brazil.
Hearts
Aware of the effect caused by these confused outings, or recent minor falls, but whose images have gone around the world, Biden tries to respond with humor.
When someone fell, with a loud noise, during a recent speech, he first asked, “Is everything okay?” “, before saying: “I want the press to know that it’s not me.”
Vice President Kamala Harris – who would replace him in the event of his death or incapacity – congratulated him on the X network, hailing: “a courageous and compassionate leader, a strong and skillful leader. »
“Happy birthday Joe!” I love you,” his wife Jill Biden published on the same network, with the obligatory emoji in the shape of little hearts and a photo of the couple.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre indicated that the president would celebrate this milestone surrounded by his family, whom he will take like every year to the very posh island of Nantucket for Thanksgiving, and with a cake. the coconut.
The Democrat is already the oldest president in American history and, if he wins a second term as he intends, he would be 86 years old when he leaves the White House.
71%
Biden is in good health, according to his last medical check-up dated February, but voting for him is betting that he remains in good health, without declining, at an already advanced age.
But according to the polls, this bet does not enchant the Americans.
A recent survey conducted by the Siena Institute in six key American states, and published by the New York Times, reveals that 71% of voters think Biden is too old to be president.
Only 39% say the same thing about former President Donald Trump, 77 years old.
“From our point of view, it is not a question of age, it is a question of experience,” said Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday, assuring that “the experience of Joe Biden”, since his election as senator in 1972, allowed him to carry out ambitious reforms and deal with international crises.
” Wisdom ”
Noting that he had been the first president to visit a war zone that was not under the control of the American army, in this case in Ukraine in February, she praised his “energy” and his ” wisdom. »
Before the 2020 election, Joe Biden had reduced travel, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But this time, he will have to plow America while assuming his overwhelming presidential responsibilities.
If his doctor describes him as “vigorous”, it is undeniable that Joe Biden looks his age. His gait is very stiff, and the voice of the president, a former stutterer whose speech has always been slurred, is often a whisper that is difficult to hear.