Joe Biden is what we all know him to be: a man who, if he were a senior citizen, would be living in a nursing facility. Instead, he’s running the country–and not very well. Jen Psaki – Biden’s former press secretary and the Circle Back Girl – can’t avoid the conversation about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and advanced age.
Psaki, a journalist with her own MSNBC program, took part in a discussion panel on Kara Swisher’s podcast, which was released last Thursday. The issue of Biden’s age came up.
“Does it help or hurt that there are other elderly people struggling in our political universe? Right. You see Dianne Feinstein, and Mitch McConnell having their moments. Does that affect it, that everyone’s thinking—old Congress and there’s the head of it,” Swisher asked Psaki.
Psaki responded, “It is undeniably painful.”
Psaki says that there is a feeling of “like, these people look so old.” They are so old and white, and disconnected from our lives and experiences. All of them are older. Why are there so many old people in Washington?
Right. Biden’s issue is not his cognitive decline but a perception problem that’s exacerbated in Congress by other older people. Does this make sense to you at all? Feinstein and McConnell are the ones who make Biden’s life miserable. Could you believe it? It’s not because they are old. They’re also “old and white.”
Psaki acknowledged that each older politician has their own unique characteristics. “They are not the same. We can explain all of it. But explaining it is a bit difficult. “I think it is unquestionably bad”, she said.
She then insisted that American voters don’t care about the age issue.
“Biden, and the Biden-Harris team at the White House, have challenges regarding running for reelection. Psaki stated that we are unquestionably talking about them. This is not what’s happening in this country. This is the conversation described in that op/ed, which is taking place at dinner parties in Washington or other coastal cities.”
Polls consistently show that voters are concerned about Biden’s age and cognitive decline. It is disingenuous to pretend that McConnell and Feinstein are the ones who have caused Biden’s perception. Recent CBS News/YouGov polling found that 44% believe that Biden will leave office before completing a second term, while only 34% think he’ll complete it. Biden is the problem.
