On Monday night, CNN’s Don Lemon questioned White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on the president’s physical and mental stamina for a second term in 2024.
Biden, now 79, is the oldest president ever to hold office. Should he run for re-election, he would be 82 on his second inauguration day.
Jean-Pierre didn’t take the line of questioning exceptionally well.
DON LEMON: "Does the president has the stamina, physically and mentally, do you think to continue on even after 2024?"
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: "That is not a question that we should be even asking" pic.twitter.com/dUfQil9qKp
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 14, 2022
“Don! You’re asking me this question! Oh my gosh, he’s the president of the United States! You know, he — I can’t even keep up with him,” Karine Jean-Pierre said. “We just got back from New Mexico. We just got back from California. Uh, that is — I, I, that is — that is not a question that we should be even asking. Just look at the work that he does. Just look at how he’s delivering for the American public.”
The reporter’s question remains, even though Jean-Pierre stammered out an answer. Biden’s memory lapses, losing his temper, and outbursts have brought queries and criticism. His cognitive decline has been an ongoing topic among commentators for a while. Also, rumors of the Democrat hierarchy discussing who they could substitute for Biden at the top of the ticket have swirled for weeks.
Even the New York Times reported, “Many Democratic lawmakers and party officials are venting their frustrations with President Biden’s struggle to advance the bulk of his agenda, doubting his ability to rescue the party from a predicted midterm trouncing and increasingly viewing him as an anchor that should be cut loose in 2024.”
The Times piece pointed out “low enthusiasm,” “disappointed voters,” and “constituency abandoning Biden,” including blacks, Hispanics, women, young people, and union members. Moreover, the prognosis has party officials questioning Biden’s “leadership, his age and his capability to take the fight to former President Donald Trump a second time,” the Times wrote.
Jean-Pierre hurriedly brushed the notion off as “hearsay — it’s fallacious.”
“Look, what, that — that — that article that we’re talking about is hearsay, it’s salacious, that’s not what we care about. We care about how we are going to deliver for the American people. How are we going to make their lives better? That’s what the president talks about. That is his focus. And that’s where we’ll continue to focus on,” she said.
