Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips (Minn.) said President Biden has experienced a physical and communication decline, as fears of the president’s age swarm his reelection efforts.
“Look: I’m an American, I want to respect my presidents. I do respect President Biden,” Phillips told Fox News’s Sean Hannity.
“I’m not seeing cognitive decline. Of course, we’re seeing physical and communication decline. I think that’s self-evident by any video, but I don’t think that is fair,” Phillips continued. “But he’s an 81-year-old man. He’s a human being. Donald Trump’s 77.”
Biden would be 86 by the end of a second term. His age is frequently discussed on the 2024 presidential campaign, as people claim it is time for a younger leader and have concerns over his well-being.
Former President Trump has hit Biden over his age, recently trolling the incumbent in an ad that refers to the White House as a senior living facility. Trump will turn 78 in June.
In his interview Thursday, Phillips reiterated a point he’s made throughout his campaign: Much of the country is looking for change and doesn’t want either Biden or Trump as president again, the Minnesota Democrat said.
“Look: I’m running for change. I think we can do this so much better. I love my Republican colleagues; I love my Democratic colleagues,” he said.
Phillips continued, saying “we’re handing the keys to this country” to both the far right and the far left, and called himself part of the “exhausted majority in the middle.”
Phillips came in second behind Biden in Tuesday’s primary in New Hampshire, a state where Biden wasn’t on the ballot. According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, he earned 19.6 percent in the Democratic Primary.
He recently backtracked from his original plan of suspending his campaign by March 5 if he did not gain traction, saying as of Tuesday morning he plans to stay in the race “as long as it takes” to have a match-up against Trump.