Ageist Attacks Against President Biden Reinforce Outdated Stereotypes —and Hurt Younger People, Too

When President Joe Biden tripped on the stairs up to Air Force One on March 19, the incident immediately touched off a flurry of mockery. Fox News host Sean Hannity declared the President to be “frail.” “He didn’t know where the hell he was,” former President Donald Trump said in an interview with Lara Trump. Saturday Night Live, no stranger to easy jokes about aging Presidents, poked fun both at the fall and at a March 25 press conference when a reporter asked Biden if he planned to run for a second term—a question, quipped SNL’s Michael Che, which was “probably the nicest way to ask him if he plans on being alive in three years.” Age has long been a powerful political weapon, and Biden has by no means been the sole target. Similar questions have recently been raised about California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who, at 87, is the oldest member of the U.S. Senate, and Wilbur Ross, President Trump’s former Commerce Secretary, who’s now 83. Trump’s campaign tried to make an issue of Biden’s age and mental condition throughout last year’s election—in one case, it spent at least $6.5 million on a 30-second commercial that ran in 12 states and claimed Biden lacked “the strength, the stamina and the mental fortitude to lead this country.” Biden, who’s about four years Trump’s elder, repeatedly brushed off such arguments, telling the New York Times that voters will “...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news