President Joe Biden is refusing to acknowledge how old he is even as his wife Jill Biden and other aides tell him he needs to get more rest, a new report showed Tuesday.
Biden, who at 81 years old is the oldest president ever elected, often tells his staff, “I feel so much younger than my age.”
His repeated insistence may cause eye rolls from his assistants, Axios reported, with some believing Biden doesn't realize how old he can appear.
That could be a problem next year when Biden goes to voters and asks them for a second term in the White House. Polls show that a majority of Americans are concerned about their physical and mental health. If Biden wins a second term, he would be 86 at completion.
Current and former aides say the president is pushing for more travel and events than they think he should. In the 2020 election, most of the campaigning took place via Zoom due to the COVID pandemic, but that won't be the case in 2024, when strict scheduling will require Biden to criss-cross the country to make an appeal do to the American electorate.
“I feel so much younger than my age,” President Joe Biden tells his staff
The president often jokes about his age — like the photo he posted on his last birthday of him grinning in front of a flaming birthday cake — but he's also quick to snap back when questions are asked about his physical and mental ability to be leader of the United States. free world.
“Since he first ran for Senate, President Biden has been a hard worker eager to do more than any schedule could accommodate,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates told Axios.
First lady Jill Biden is helping manage all of this. Her and her team are deeply involved in the president's daily schedule, Axios reported, and she does her best to give him as much rest as possible.
She often watches over her husband. She has been seen on the Truman Balconey, on the second floor of the White House, watching him as he disembarks from Marine One upon his return from a trip.
And she monitors a diet and encourages him to eat more fish and vegetables. At a state dinner for India's prime minister in June, Jill Biden joked that she knew the vegan meal was good because “Joe ate it.”
Moreover, the first lady has reassured donors that 'nothing' can slow down the president.
“Nothing can stop him and now he is ready to get the job done,” the first lady said in June at fundraisers in Minnesota and Tennessee, where donors gave millions of dollars to Biden's reelection effort.
Jill Biden is taking a more active role in monitoring President Joe Biden's schedule and urging him to rest more
Jill Biden watches from the Truman Balcony as President Biden returns to the White House
Biden has been repeatedly asked about his mental and physical health. His doctor has declared him healthy and fit to become president.
But polls show that Americans are concerned about his age in a way that they are not concerned about Donald Trump, who is just three years younger than Biden.
A poll from August by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research77% said Biden is too old to be effective for another four years. That came from 89% of Republicans and 69% of Democrats.
The president was described as “old” and “confused” among poll respondents. And only about half of American adults in the poll say Trump is too old for office
But Biden and his staff have started using his age as a positive, calling him the most experienced man ever in the Oval Office.
“The only thing I bring to this career beyond my years — as you can see how old I am — is a little bit of wisdom,” Biden said during a trip to Ireland this summer. “I come to this job with more experience than any president in American history. It doesn't make me better or worse, but it doesn't give me many excuses.'
And he told MSNBC in May, “I have acquired an enormous amount of wisdom and know more than the vast majority of people.”
In addition, Biden does balance exercises, wears sneakers and uses the shorter stairs of Air Force One to prevent trips and falls.
The president has stumbled several times in his nearly three years in office: he fell while boarding Air Force One, tripped over several flights of stairs and took a dramatic fall at the Air Force Academy when he encountered a sandbag .
Biden's team is now taking extra steps to prevent him from stumbling in public, Axios reported in September, betting that any ridicule he receives will be worth it to avoid a public fall.
President Joe Biden jokes about his age: He posted the above photo to his social media accounts on his birthday in November
Biden has taken more precautions to avoid stumbling after his dramatic fall at the Air Force Academy in June
The president is especially stiff when he walks.
Biden's physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, has noted that the president is suffering from a “stiffened ambulatory gait.” Biden broke his foot during the 2020 presidential campaign and had to wear a boot.
O'Connor recommended physiotherapy – specifically 'proprioceptive maintenance maneuvers' – and arch supports to assist with walking.
Proprioception training focuses on the sense of body positioning in space and may include balance exercises, tai chi and yoga.
Biden, who works out most mornings at the White House gym, has been doing balance exercises with Drew Contreras, who was a physical therapist in the Army and worked with Barack Obama when he was in the White House.