Biden’s supporters are coming forward to support him

In response to inquiries concerning his age, President Joe Biden has changed his strategy from “watch me” to “vouch for me.” Following the publication of a report by special counsel Robert Hur characterizing Biden’s memory as “significantly limited,” a number of lawmakers and presidential appointees have come forward to vouch for his acuity. News outlets have been informed that Biden cares about “minute details” and poses “pertinent questions.” He pays attention to detail and is “very engaging.” The White House even went so far as to release a memo listing senior officials from both political parties who had attested to Biden’s mental acuity. Despite the overwhelming support for Biden, some well-known Democrats remain skeptical that the strategy will allay worries about his cognitive abilities. They fear that Biden has been insulated by a guarded White House staff, causing him to become less approachable to those who value his humanity despite his imperfections. Representative Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., stated on “The Chuck ToddCast,” which was taped on Tuesday, “You need to let Joe Biden be Joe Biden.” With nine months until the election, Biden can hone his plan and watch to see if Hur’s report becomes less memorable. For the time being, however, the special counsel has highlighted Biden’s age, which is his greatest electoral vulnerability, and sparked a heated discussion about his qualifications.

Speaking under anonymity to avoid upsetting allies, a former Democratic House member said, “The special counsel said the quiet part out loud.” This former congressman remembered meetings with Biden, including a bicameral session at the White House three years prior, during which he seemed lost in nostalgia for his days in Congress and would often stray from the subject at hand. The former lawmaker made a point by referencing a plot line from an 80s movie and saying, “I think I share some of the concerns of the American people.” “Because if this is Weekend at Bernie’s, then who are the two guys accompanying him?” The former lawmaker claimed that the special counsel’s report was so concerning that Biden ought to withdraw from the race. (Biden has not indicated that he is withdrawing; if he did, Democrats would now have to organize a disorganized shuffle to find a replacement.) This person remarked, “This is a great ‘exit stage right’ moment.” “However, I don’t think hubris and ego will permit that to occur.” The Hur report has not changed strategy, according to a White House official. The official released a statement saying, “We’ve always encouraged people who are actually around the president to rebut this false narrative Republicans are promoting by sharing their own experiences working for him.” “And the only reason we’re doing that more is because the media is devoting so much attention to Hur’s baseless and unfounded attacks from last week.”

Biden aides disregard outside counsel regarding age

Democratic strategists and operatives have weighed in with advice: either admit that the arthritis excuses aren’t cutting it and start scheduling more events where Biden starts seated rather than being photographed shuffled to a podium, or spend a lot more time working on his lighting and makeup, they advise Biden aides. Some Democrats are more direct in their reactions, expressing their outrage when discussing the president’s continued cycling trips following his 2022 tumble on camera—which he quickly recovered from—or his summertime beachcombing incident. They say that a president who is faltering is too frequently too close to an expensive embarrassing moment at this existential moment for American democracy. There’s nothing that makes Biden’s inner circle happier than to mock outsiders who predicted he wouldn’t win the 2020 primary or the general election. It seems to them that the same outsiders are now making suggestions about what he ought to have done differently. 

Any worries about Biden’s age, according to White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, are outweighed by what aides believe is another week of more pertinent news, this time in opposition to Republicans who have backed down from their demands for a bipartisan border and immigration bill. In reaching a significant, bipartisan border security agreement approved by the Border Patrol Union, Biden “demonstrated the same experienced leadership and maneuvering that has made him the most effective president in modern history,” according to Bates. Republicans, who doubt Biden’s ability, are celebrating this as another victory for him, Bates sneered, “Must have forgotten that they’ve seen this movie before.” Before leaving to meet with House Democrats, Biden expressed his anger over the accusations in a less sarcastic way backstage. The idea that he was unaware of Beau Biden’s exact year of death struck a particularly deep chord with the father, whose grief has defined him since the moment his son was taken from him by glioblastoma almost nine years ago. 

President Biden’s more casual moments 

Beyond putting on speeches or agreeing to interviews, there are internal discussions. Decisions regarding the length of White House events, their accessibility to the media, and other logistical details are reportedly influenced by the president’s age and how it will be perceived, according to current and former aides who spoke with CNN about this. Advisors have been discussing the president’s appearance and sleep patterns; some have cited his speeches at Valley Forge and the Mother Emanuel church in Charleston at the beginning of January as evidence that they were finally able to get him to project the vitality and strength they had been waiting for. The Biden assistants believe that this hasn’t been sufficient as well. Over the past few weeks, internal meetings have centered around strategies to arrange more casual campaign stops for the president, such as his visit to a boba tea shop in Las Vegas on Monday, where he engaged in conversation with the cashier while being instructed on how to insert the straw through the plastic cover of the cup.

 These highlight Biden’s well-known skill in retail politics and provide a platform for the campaign’s online content distribution efforts as they attempt to gain traction in a fragmented media landscape. Above all, they exemplify what Biden aides have discovered through experience: Nothing dispels doubts about the president’s ability quite like seeing him in action. Rep. Gabe Amo, a recently elected Democratic congressman from Rhode Island who served as Biden’s White House assistant until last summer, stated, “I want to see the president do what he does best: Be with people in their homes, see him on an individual level, so that he’s connecting not just on the policy successes but that he’s connecting to the people.” “I consider the values the president is espousing more important than the specifics he can recall. And that’s what happens when the president aligns himself with the people.

“He grills you,”

The White House hurriedly organized a press conference last week in an attempt to refute the report, and 81-year-old Joe Biden insisted that “my memory has not gotten— my memory is fine.” The event did little to calm the fervor, with reporters yelling questions at him and Biden squinting into the lights. Since then, those appointed to the presidency have hurried to offer tales that demonstrate his total control. Jeff Zients, Biden’s chief of staff, is perhaps the official who spends the most time with the president. His press assistants refused to allow him to be interviewed. Rather, they made public a statement from Zients in which Biden was positively compared to presidents who were much younger, such as Barack Obama, the vice president under whom Biden served. 

Zients stated, “President Biden has accomplished more in his first three years in office than any other president in recent memory.” “How?” Nobody puts in more effort than them. Nobody poses more difficult queries. Nobody has superior decision-making skills. The man who now directs the execution of Biden’s American Rescue Plan, Gene Sperling, was the economic advisor to the last three Democratic presidents and said the president’s advisors are used to his in-depth questions about even the smallest details of policy. Sperling compared the amount of homework that goes into a meeting with Biden to “overpreparation, like a good student.” “You are glad you did when he grills you.”

“An elderly man who accomplishes things”

According to a White House adviser, there is no “time machine” that can make Biden appear younger. However, some of the president’s supporters contend that he can at the very least show that he is a more sensible and reliable person than Trump, who is expected to be his opponent. They prefer that Biden present his own argument. Dingell claimed that the president is excessively scripted in the podcast interview. Dingell claimed that because “he’s being so managed, his compassion and his empathy” don’t always show through. 

Another White House ally, the Rev. Al Sharpton, suggested that Biden’s age might be an advantage if presented differently. Present the argument that, at the age of 78, Biden passed a historic infrastructure bill and appointed a new justice to the Supreme Court, according to Sharpton. It would seem obvious that other presidents, despite being decades younger, did not have as stellar a record. Regarding the age issue, Sharpton remarked, “They should own it.” The message from Biden ought to be, “I’m an old man who gets things done.” Compare me to the elderly man I’m running against, please,” Sharpton remarked.