July 13, 2022

Sounding the Alarm Over Joe Biden

From a Democratic perspective, it is one thing when Republicans complain about Biden. It is another when the New York Times does it.

President Joe Biden’s reelection prospects have seemed doubtful for months now. Many voters think the nation’s oldest president ever — he turns 80 in November — is too old for the job and is certainly too old for a second term. Many others think he’s simply doing a bad job. Many think both. And that includes Democrats who voted for Biden as well as Republicans who didn’t.

Now, we seem to have reached a turning point. In recent days, the most influential media voice among Democrats, the New York Times, has published two articles that appear to lay a foundation for pushing a reluctant Biden out of a reelection race in 2024.

The first was published on July 9 with the headline, “At 79, Biden Is Testing the Boundaries of Age and the Presidency.” Don’t be fooled by the gentleness of the headline. The article clearly suggested Biden is too old to be president. It reported that Biden’s Middle East trip was originally going to be part of his European trip last month until aides realized that putting the two destinations together in one trip “would have made for an arduous 10-day overseas trek” and that “such extended travel might be unnecessarily taxing for a 79-year-old president.” One official even called the idea “crazy.”

Biden’s aides acknowledge that he “looks older than just a few years ago,” the New York Times reported, calling that a “political liability that cannot be solved by traditional White House stratagems like staff shake-ups or new communications plans.” While the New York Times called Biden’s energy level “impressive for a man of his age,” it nevertheless said Biden’s energy “is not what it was, and some aides quietly watch out for him.”

“[Biden] often shuffles when he walks, and aides worry he will trip on a wire,” the New York Times reported. “He stumbles over words during public events, and they hold their breath to see if he makes it to the end without a gaffe.” Those public appearances have “fueled” the perception that Biden is too old to be president, the article said. “His speeches can be flat and listless. He sometimes loses his train of thought, has trouble summoning names or appears momentarily confused.” During the European trip, the paper said, Biden’s fellow leaders “protectively treat[ed] him like a distinguished elderly relative.”

In all, Biden’s age has become an “uncomfortable issue” for Democrats, the paper reported. “If he mounts another campaign in 2024, Mr. Biden would be asking the country to elect a leader who would be 86 at the end of his tenure,” the New York Times said, “testing the outer boundaries of age and the presidency.” Testing the outer boundaries of age? For many voters, the simpler way of saying that is “too old.”

Now, the New York Times has published a devastating poll the paper conducted with Siena College. The survey found that 64% of Democratic voters want a different nominee in 2024 — just 26% want the party to renominate the president. On top of that, the poll shows Biden’s job approval among all voters at just 33%. And on top of that, just 13% of those surveyed believe the country is on the right track. “With the country gripped by a pervasive sense of pessimism,” the New York Times wrote, “the president is hemorrhaging support.”

And what is it about Biden that particularly worries his party’s voters? Age. “Concerns about his age ranked at the top of the list for Democratic voters who want the party to find an alternative,” the paper reported. “‘I’m just going to come out and say it: I want younger blood,’ said Nicole Farrier, a 38-year-old preschool teacher in East Tawas, a small town in northern Michigan. ‘I am so tired of all old people running our country. I don’t want someone knocking on death’s door.’” Farrier voted for Biden in 2020 in hopes he might “heal the nation’s divisions,” the New York Times said, but now “she is preoccupied with what she described as crippling increases in her cost of living.”

The second-highest concern is Biden’s job performance. The paper reported: “‘He hasn’t done what I think he’s capable of doing as president to help the American people,’ said Kelly King, a former factory worker in Greensburg, Indiana. ‘As a Democrat, I figured he would really be on our side and put us back on the right track. And I just feel like he’s not.’”

The poll offered one “glimmer” of good news for Democrats: Even in his weakened condition, Biden could still narrowly defeat former President Donald Trump, 44% to 41%, in a hypothetical 2024 head-to-head matchup. But even Democrats who would definitely vote for Biden against Trump would still prefer another nominee.

What does it all mean? It means Biden is in trouble. But that has been clear for quite a while. Voters have long been concerned about the president’s age. They have been concerned about his ability to handle the world’s most demanding job. And they have wished there was some better alternative.

What is perhaps more newsworthy now is that the media institution most respected among Democrats, especially Democratic opinion leaders, has so frankly put the spotlight on Biden’s problems. From a Democratic perspective, it is one thing when Republicans complain about Biden. It is another when the New York Times does it. And now everyone, except perhaps the most dogged Biden loyalists, is alarmed about the state of Joe Biden.

This content originally appeared on the Washington Examiner at washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/sounding-the-alarm-over-joe-biden.

(Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner. For a deeper dive into many of the topics Byron covers, listen to his podcast, The Byron York Show, available on the Ricochet Audio Network at ricochet.com/series/byron-york-show and everywhere else podcasts are found.)

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.