Addressing reporters on Monday, President Biden’s 81st birthday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denied Democrats are panicking about the commander-in-chief’s age ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Jean-Pierre was asked during the White House press briefing to respond to comments made by David Axelrod, who served as senior advisor to President Barack Obama, expressing concern that Biden’s advanced age will keep him from winning the White House in 2024.
“There’s no alarm happening behind the scenes. I can only speak behind the scenes here,” Jean-Pierre responded. “There’s no alarm happening behind the scenes, and I’m certainly not going to comment on everybody who has something to say.”
Jean-Pierre went on to defend the president as unmatched in terms of energy and stamina. “I would put him up against anyone,” she said.
“Our perspective is that it’s not about age, it’s about the President’s experience. That’s what we believe,” Jean-Pierre said. “The President has used his experience to pass more bipartisan legislation in recent time than any other president. That’s just a fact. It’s something that we have seen this president do, and that’s because of his experience. He’s been able to manage multiple foreign policy challenges. That’s because of his experience.”
Axelrod, a veteran Democratic strategist and longtime political pundit, disagrees.
“I think he has a 50-50 shot here, but no better than that, maybe a little worse,” Axelrod told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd in an interview. “He thinks he can cheat nature here, and it’s really risky. They’ve got a real problem if they’re counting on Trump to win it for them. I remember Hillary doing that, too.”
The press secretary also praised the incumbent president for how he’s addressed the national economic challenges in the past three years and for being the first president who’s visited an “active war zone without our military,” referring to his diplomatic trip to Ukraine earlier this year.
“We have to judge him by what he’s done, not by his numbers,” she added.
As November 2024 nears, a steady drumbeat of stories have emerged shining a light on how Biden’s age will hamper his electability. Last week, Politico columnist Jonathan Martin reported that Democratic insiders are becoming increasingly concerned about Biden’s “capacity to do the job.”
“The oldest president in history when he first took the oath, Biden will not be able to govern and campaign in the manner of previous incumbents,” Martin wrote. “He simply does not have the capacity to do it, and his staff doesn’t trust him to even try, as they make clear by blocking him from the press. Biden’s bid will give new meaning to a Rose Garden campaign, and it requires accommodation to that unavoidable fact of life.”