Biden’s age would be ‘major issue’ if he runs again, Axelrod says

Former senior Obama adviser David Axelrod warned that President Biden’s age could be a “major issue” in the 2024 presidential election. 

“The presidency is a monstrously taxing job and the stark reality is the president would be closer to 90 than 80 at the end of a second term, and that would be a major issue,” Axelrod told The New York Times of 79-year-old Biden. 

“He looks his age and isn’t as agile in front of a camera as he once was, and this has fed a narrative about competence that isn’t rooted in reality,” he added.

Axelrod also claimed that Biden “doesn’t get the credit he deserves for steering the country through the worst of the pandemic, passing historic legislation, pulling the NATO alliance together against Russian aggression and restoring decency and decorum to the White House.”

Biden has reportedly already told political allies, including former President Obama, that he intends to run for office again in 2024. 

But Biden will be 81 in November 2024, and has faced months of low approval ratings, which reached an all-time low of 58 percent disapproval in a Morning Consult poll last week.  

“I fully expect for him to run again,” Democratic strategist Jim Manley has previously said of Biden. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if there aren’t a bunch of Democrats and their staffers watching very carefully as the weeks and months go by.” 

If Biden does not run, Vice President Harris is at the top of the list of potential contenders, though other previous presidential candidates including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and progressive Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) may also enter the race.