(Washington) “Biden is not too old”: the octogenarian American president, who suffers regular attacks on his age, was able to count on an unlikely ally to defend him: his rival Donald Trump, 77 years old.
The former Republican president, whom the 80-year-old Democrat could face again at the polls in November 2024, assured NBC that Joe Biden’s problem was not his age, but “his incompetence”.
“Some of the greatest leaders in the world were in power when they were in their eighties,” argued the former president, candidate in the Republican primaries.
PHOTO JONATHAN ERNST, REUTERS
US President Joe Biden
“And Biden is not too old,” he added during the interview, which will be broadcast in full on Sunday. “But I think he’s incompetent and that’s a bigger problem. »
This exchange took place at a time when America is going through profound debates about the aging of its political class.
The president’s last medical assessment in February 2023 says he is “in good health”, but never before has the White House had such an elderly tenant. Joe Biden would be 86 years old at the end of a second term, which has earned him a barrage of criticism.
On the question of his own age, Donald Trump smiled: “I’m still far from 80”, even if the billionaire celebrated his 77th birthday in June.
Current polls show that while the age gap between the two men is small, Americans are more worried about Mr. Biden’s.