(CNSNews.com) - President Donald Trump says Joe Biden's age shouldn't prevent him from running for re-election in 2024, but his diminished physical and cognitive abilities should.
"I just don't see Biden doing it from a physical or a mental standpoint," Trump told Fox News's Tucker Carlson in an interview that aired Tuesday night.
"Look. I watch him just like you do," Trump told Carlson:
"And I think it's almost inappropriate for me to say it, but I deal with other people. I don't see -- I don't see how it's possible. And it's not an age thing.
“You know, like I say, I have friends that are 88, 89, 92. Bernie Marcus, Home Depot, is 95. He's smart as hell. He's sharp as he was. I mean, he's you, know, mentally...I had a meeting with him a few months ago, he was 100 percent.
"I know people that built their fortunes from 80 to 90. They were always struggling, and they made a fortune from 80 to 90. Couple of people in particular. It's amazing."
Trump said he thinks some people use Biden's age "because I'm four or five years behind."
"They say this is a way of getting Trump...but this is something wrong. I saw his answer today on television, about whether or not he was going to run, to a very nice guy named Al Roker. I mean, you can't get a softer question than that.
"That was a long answer, talking about the eggs, and this and that. Look. I don't think he can (run)."
Trump said Biden is "surrounded” by “radical left people, but they're very smart and they're very vicious. It's not him. It's not him.
“He's now in Ireland. He's not going to have a news conference. When the world is exploding -- I own property in Ireland. I'm not going to Ireland, the world is exploding around us.
“You could end up in a third World War, and this guy is going to be in Ireland. And not having a news conference. He hasn't had a news conference, I guess, in months."
"Well, he can't," Tucker Carlson observed. Carlson asked Trump what happens if Biden doesn't run?
"Well, obviously the one that they would talk about would be the vice president, Kamala. That would be the one that they talk about, but I don't think she's performed well on the big stage.
“I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but there are a certain group of people that will go crazy if it's not her. They're going to be very angry if it's not her. That's a problem."
(Trump also mentioned California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who "said the greatest things" about him: "That's why I could never hit him, because he was so nice to me.")
"I just don't see Biden doing from it a physical or a mental standpoint," Trump said.
"I don't see it, but it's been a crazy period of time in the world of politics...
"...You know, they expected Bernie to win. Now Bernie's older than Biden, you know, whether you like him or not -- he's sharp. I watched him being interviewed the other day, he's a hundred percent sharp. He hasn't lost much, if anything, Bernie Sanders but you know, he's older. So it's not an age thing."