US PRESIDENT JOE Biden has hit back against accusations that he is too old for a second term in the White House, pointing out that Donald Trump is nearly the same age.
With the election in November coming ever closer, and looking increasingly like it will be a contest once again between Biden and Trump,
In an interview on late-night TV with Seth Meyers, Biden, 81, said he is a better bet than “the other guy”, referring to 77-year-old Trump.
Meyers raised that Biden’s age has become a “real concern for American voters” and asked how he plans to address that concern during the election.
In response, Biden said that “number one, you’ve got to take a look at the other guy. He’s about as old as I am, but he can’t remember his wife’s name”, drawing laughs from the audience in the studio.
He was referencing a clip earlier in the show where Meyers showed footage of Trump that the host said showed Trump calling his wife, Melania, “Mercedes”.
A factcheck subsequently published by Snopes has said that Trump was likely not addressing Melania but a woman named Mercedes Schlapp, who was the White House director of strategic communications during Trump’s presidency.
Biden continued: “Number two, it’s about how old your ideas are. This is a guy who wants to take us back. He wants to take us back on Roe v. Wade. He wants to take us back on a whole range of issues that for 50, 60 years have been solid American positions.
“I think it’s about the future… We’ve got some things done, and they told us we couldn’t get them done because things were so divided,” he said.
The other guy and I are about the same age.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 27, 2024
The question in this election is: How old are your ideas? He wants to take us back 60 years. I’m focused on the future. pic.twitter.com/lcQcXWt5Jh
During the interview, Meyers asked Biden why he had not supported an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, despite saying that too many Palestinians have died because of Israel’s offensive.
Biden said an agreement is almost in reach “in principle” for a temporary ceasefire that would Israel agreeing not to “engage in activities during Ramadan” in exchange for Hamas releasing hostages held in Gaza.
“Ramadan’s coming up and there’s been an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan as well, in order to give us time to get all the hostages out,” Biden said.
“I think that if we get that temporary ceasefire, we’re going to be able to move in a direction where we can change the dynamic.”
In the most recent primary, which was held yesterday in Michigan, Biden easily won the Democratic vote.
However, tens of thousands of party members ticked the ‘uncommitted’ box in a campaign to push Biden to back away from his staunch support for Israel.
During the interview on Seth Myers, Biden also reiterated his recent criticisms of Trump over comments he made saying that he would encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Nato allies if they did not meet their financial commitments.
Additional reporting by AFP
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