Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that it’s fair for people to be concerned about how President Joe Biden’s age is affecting his leadership.
The topic of Biden’s age came up during an interview Clinton gave at the Financial Times Weekend Festival in Washington on Sunday. As Financial Times editor Edward Luce asked Clinton about a range of foreign policy topics, he noted Biden’s stumble on a set of stairs at the G7 Summit in Japan on Friday.
“There was that heart-stopping moment where he almost fell over coming down the stairs a day or two ago. He didn’t use the railings; Jill wasn’t there with him. Every time that happens, your heart is in your mouth, because these things could be consequential. Is that a concern?” Luce asked Clinton.
“Well, I mean, it’s a concern for anyone,” Clinton replied. “And we’ve had presidents who’ve fallen before who were a lot younger, and people didn’t go into heart palpitations. But his age is an issue, and people have every right to consider it.”
The G7 Summit was not the first time in his presidency that Biden has stumbled on a set of stairs. In March of 2021, Biden stumbled three times in an on-camera incident as he walked up a set of stairs to board Air Force One. In June of last year, Biden also fell off his bicycle during a ride in a state park near his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. In both previous incidents, White House aides said Biden was fine.
Biden’s latest stumble comes just weeks after the 80-year-old announced he was running for reelection in 2024. Biden is already the oldest man ever to assume the executive office and, if he wins reelection and serves out the full term, he will be 86 years old by the end of that term in January of 2029.
“[Biden] has this great saying, and I think he’s right,” the 75-year-old Clinton added. “Don’t judge him by running against the Almighty, but against the alternative.”
Despite her concerns about Biden’s age, Clinton gave her fellow Democrat credit for his accomplishments thus far in office, and expressed hope that he can win again in 2024.
“He has a good record that, three years ago, people would not have predicted would have gotten done,” said Clinton, who led the 2016 Democratic Party presidential ticket. “He doesn’t get the credit yet that he deserves for what is happening out in the country—in terms of jobs, and growth, and planning for the future, with chips and other stuff. So I obviously hope he stays very focused and able to compete in the election, because I think he can be re-elected, and that’s what we should all hope for.”
Voters Share Skepticism of Biden’s Age
After Biden announced his reelection bid on April 25, Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley suggested Biden would be unlikely to finish his second term even if he did win reelection.
“I think that we can all be very clear and say, with a matter of fact, that if you vote for Joe Biden, you really are counting on a President [Kamala] Harris, because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely,” Haley said in an interview with Fox News following Biden’s campaign announcement.
In an April NBC News poll, 70 percent of adult respondents said Biden should not run again. 69 percent of those respondents who said Biden shouldn’t run also said Biden’s age played at least some part in their reasoning.
Biden has defended his age as a metric of his wisdom and experience.
“I have acquired a hell of a lot of wisdom and know more than the vast majority of people. I’m more experienced than anybody that’s ever run for the office. And I think I’ve proven myself to be honorable as well as, also, effective,” he said in an interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on May 5.
