Joe Biden tackled the taboo subject of his 2024 presidential candidacy head-on on Wednesday: he is already the oldest president in American history and he will be 86 at the end of his second term if he takes it away.
The Democratic president rarely talks about his age. But polls show it’s a factor that worries a vast majority of voters, and one that will inevitably be used against it by its competitors.
The day after launching his campaign in a three-minute video released at 6:00 a.m., Mr Biden, 80, said it was normal for people to ask questions.
Asked about the subject during a joint press conference with his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol, at the White House, he admitted to having asked himself many questions.
“I understand that people are wondering. I would wonder myself. I questioned myself before deciding to campaign,” he replied.
“I feel good,” he added, ensuring he had enough energy to campaign while performing one of the most demanding jobs in the world. “I am excited about this prospect. »
“People will see, continued the American president. They will follow an election campaign and they will decide if I have what it takes or not. »
He even joked about his age. “I don’t even know how old I am. I can’t tell, it doesn’t hit. »
Beat Donald Trump
The only way Mr. Biden usually approaches the issue is with light-hearted jokes about his long political background — he served 36 years in the Senate before becoming Barack Obama’s vice president for eight years. But that does not make voters laugh.
If the democrat displays an unusual endurance, juggling between international crises and major reforms, his main handicap remains his age.
According to a recent NBC News poll, 70% of Americans — including 51% of Democrats — believe Joe Biden should not run in 2024. And 69% of those opposed to his candidacy cite his age as a deciding factor. or significant.
What motivates Joe Biden to run? Is it the fact that sitting presidents always run for a second term in the United States? Or does he rather feel the historic mission of defeating Donald Trump, whom he beat in 2020 and who wants to return to the White House?
Donald Trump, 76, is currently emerging as the favorite for the Republican nomination despite his legal troubles. Accused of having bought the silence of an actress of pornographic films, he is also under threat of investigations into his electoral pressure in Georgia in 2020 and the management of classified archives of the White House.
A former columnist accused him in New York civil court on Tuesday of raping her in the mid-1990s.
When asked on Wednesday if he considers himself the only person capable of beating Donald Trump, the Democratic president replied: “I may not be the only one, but I know him well and I know the danger that stands for our democracy. »
“We’ve been through all of this before,” he said.