His opponents used it against him when he ran in 2020, and have continued pointing to his on-camera stumbles to insinuate he is suffering from cognitive issues (a line of attack that often backfires, as NPR has reported). Questions about Biden's age are nothing new. 'Ultimately, that's what people are going to measure him by,' she said. Ramirez says she thinks young people will turn out again, because Joe Biden has delivered on specific issues they care about: gun reform, climate change legislation, marijuana reform and student debt cancellation. And then they turned out in overwhelming numbers to vote for Joe Biden.'

Young people overwhelmingly in 2020, during the Democratic primary, supported the oldest candidate in the race, Bernie Sanders. 'Young voters in the last few elections have turned out in historic numbers. 'And at a time when there's so much churn and turmoil, those three qualities are assets for him,' he told Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep.Ĭristina Tzinzún Ramirez, president of the progressive nonprofit NextGen America, says what is most important to young voters is progressive policy change - not age. Still, Axelrod says, there are 'upsides' to Biden's age: wisdom, experience and perspective. 'We are in uncharted waters, we've never had a president this old.' 'When you look at polling, when you watch focus groups, it's the thing that people bring up first,' he says. In fact, his age as a factor is 'indisputable,' says David Axelrod, chief strategist for President Obama's campaigns and senior political commentator for CNN. That doesn't mean that his age won't be an issue on the campaign trail. Biden seemed to separate that from approval of particular legislative accomplishments, including creating manufacturing jobs and climate investments.īiden works out five days a week and received a clean bill of health at his annual physical earlier this year, with his physician concluding that he 'remains fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations.'

The data from the NBC poll shows 41% of adults polled approve of Biden's job performance and 54% disapprove, which is down from January. 'When the same polling data asks what kind of job I've done, it gets overwhelmingly positive results,' Biden said at a press conference Wednesday. The president said the same polling data that shows concern for his age also shows support for what he's done in office. If elected to a second term, he would be 86 by the end of it. Decades later, at age 78, he became the oldest living president the day he was sworn into office. Senate in 1972, becoming the fifth youngest person to do so. An NBC poll released this weekend found that 70% of Americans don't want Biden to run for reelection, with half of those citing age as a major factor.īiden was 29 when he was first elected to the U.S.

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