The 80-year-old head of state formalized his candidacy for a second term on Tuesday. But his age, already pointed out by the Republicans in 2020, worries even in his own camp.
It is now official. US President Joe Biden announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election on Tuesday, April 25. “Let’s finish the job. I am a candidate for my re-election”, launched the 80-year-old head of state in a video posted on Twitter. Never have Americans elected such an old president. Never, either, had a candidate asked them to leave him the keys to the White House until he was 86, the age he will be in 2028, at the end of a possible second term.
The president-candidate knows that he will not escape attacks related to his age. If he underwent, in November 2021 then in February 2023, medical check-ups which concluded that he was “in good health”, IRepublicans have been critical of his ability to govern since 2020. Joe Biden “is clearly diminished, well below the threshold necessary to be an operational and effective president”thus estimated, in January, the republican senator Ted Cruz on CNN *. “It’s shocking that Mr. Biden thinks he can serve a second term, let alone the rest of it,” also advanced Republican strategist Scott Reed to Reuters *.
“Joe Biden has always been confused, he has always stuttered, and he has always blundered. But every wrong word from him will be instrumentalized by the Republican camp, the same way the Democratic camp will instrumentalize every wrong word from Donald Trump, if he is a candidate”underlines, with franceinfo, the historian Lauric Henneton, specialist in the United States.
“From the moment the mandate is carried out without major problem, the age of the president is no longer a problem for the Americans, a posteriori. But it can be upstream.”
Lauric Henneton, historian specializing in the United Statesat franceinfo
“A historical error”
Doubts about the health of the head of state are emerging beyond his direct opponents. “Age-related concerns [de l’actuel président] – both in terms of fitness for duty and being disconnected from the times – are legitimate”argue editorialists from the New York Times* (article reserved for subscribers). “Electing an octogenarian in obvious decline for four more years could be a historic mistake”advance the wall street journal* (article reserved for subscribers).
The relevance of a second candidacy questions even in his camp. “Presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the reality is that the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, which would be a major problem,” thus estimated David Axelrod, the strategist of the two victorious campaigns of Barack Obama, in the summer of 2022 in the New York Times*. One in two Democratic voters (51%) did not want Joe Biden to run again, in the first place because of his age, according to a poll published by NBC News *, published at the end of April.
“There is a reluctance in his camp to a second candidacy, given his agerecognizes Lauric Hanneton. But Democratic voters won’t mind voting for him once he’s sworn in.”, he believes. He also notes that “the vote against the Republicans” is a very strong driving force for them. Especially since there is, apart from the current president, “no one else who imposes himself” in the Democratic camp.
“Gerontocracy becomes a form of the norm”
Joe Biden’s parry has long consisted of responding with a terse “Watch me!” (“Watch me at work!”), or by pirouettes. In a recent ABC* interview, he nevertheless admitted that concerns about his age were “legitimate”, while ensuring that he did not share them. He further mentioned the question head-on during a trip to Ireland in April. “I am at the end of my career, not at the beginning”he admitted to Parliament in Dublin, believing that over the years he had gleaned “a bit of wisdom”.
“I have more experience than any other president in American history. That doesn’t make me better or worse, but it does give me some excuses.”
Joe Biden, US Presidentbefore the Irish Parliament in April
It is nevertheless not certain that the supposed state of health of Joe Biden is the most virulent argument of his opponents, estimates Lauric Henneton. “He is four years older than when he was last elected, of course, but on the other hand, his mandate has shown that he was doing the job, that his age did not prevent him from governing”says the specialist. “If there is no sign of senility during the campaign, I do not see what is the fuel that would fuel such rhetoric” from the Republicans, he concludes. On the other hand, the latter have other arguments to attack the president-candidate, such as the level of inflation or his management of immigration.
Moreover, “Iimes have changed, life expectancy has increased, especially among the wealthiest. The political class, in particular the Senate, is also very old. Gerontocracy becomes a form of the norm”, advances Lauric Henneton again. If Joe Biden’s opponents push this point too hard, it could backfire. “Republicans also have very old senators and Donald Trump is barely younger than Joe Biden.“ The 76-year-old former Republican president, however, will not yet be 80 at the time of the 2024 election.
* Links followed by an asterisk refer to articles in English.