Democrats are increasingly worried about Joe Biden‘s age – 80 – but are also concerned about Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the nominee in 2024 without any other clear alternative.
Biden is already the oldest president in U.S. history, and if he wins another term would be 82 at the time of his second inauguration.
Reports of increased anxiety with the Democratic Party over the president’s age and fitness for office comes as Biden goes for his annual physical Thursday morning at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
‘Nobody wants to be the one to do something that would undermine the chances of a Democratic victory in 2024,’ Minnesota Democratic Representative Dean Phillips told Politico.
‘Yet in quiet rooms the conversation is just the opposite — we could be at a higher risk if this path is cleared,’ he added.
Democrats are growing increasingly anxious about Joe Biden’s age as the 2024 presidential election gets underway – and the president has still not announced his intention to run for reelection
Biden’s age and fitness for office are coming under question as he makes history every day as the oldest U.S. president. The president will have his annual physical evaluation at Walter Reed on Thursday. Pictured: Biden arrived at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland in July 2021
Despite doubts over a second term from Biden, Democrats do not have a clear alternative – with many speaking out in recent report against the potential of Vice President Kamala Harris being the 2024 Democratic nominee
Texas Representative Ronny Jackson, who served as White House physician under former President Barack Obama and Donald Trump, again demanded that the evaluation on Thursday also include a cognitive test of Biden.
‘The majority of Americans think Biden is cognitively impaired,’ Jackson tweeted. ‘He MUST get a cognitive exam with today’s physical exam, and he must release the FULL RESULTS. We need to know!!’
A person involved in the annual physical told CNN that concern over Biden’s age has become ‘omnipresent.’
One senator said, according to Politico, that few Democrats in the upper chamber want Biden to run again.
But it’s unclear who Democrats would want to take his place.
During a news conference of Democratic governors touting 2022 midterm gains, the group grew quiet when asked if they felt Harris should be nominated if Biden decided not to run.
A House member, however, said that Biden should be the nominee and demanded that the reporter list proposals for alternative candidates, insisting that the president’s No. 2 is not an option.
Biden, who hasn’t officially said if he will run for reelection yet, is eyeing an April announcement, which is the same month he unveiled his bid in the 2020 presidential election.
Phillips claims that most Democrats are worried about speaking out against the current president making a bid for a second term, claiming they are more concerned with damaging their own careers in politics by going against Biden.
‘It’s fear, plain and simple,’ Phillips said about the lack of Democratic officials calling for a new nominee and other potential candidates steering clear of a bid.
‘People are focused on self-preservation and their aspirations,’ he explained.
‘He’s a president of great competence and success, I admire the heck out of President Biden,’ Phillips said. ‘And if he were 15-20 years younger it would be a no-brainer to nominate him, but considering his age, it’s absurd we’re not promoting competition but trying to extinguish it.’
Texas Representative Ronny Jackson, former presidential physician, demanded that Biden receive a cognitive evaluation along with his physical on Thursday
Representative Dean Phillips, a Democrat from Minnesota, said that his colleagues are too worried about self-preservation and their political future to speak out against Biden’s potential reelection bid
The only other Democratic lawmaker willing to publicly call for a new nominee in 2024 is Phillips’s fellow Minnesotan Representative Angie Craig.
‘I said it, I still believe it, but if the president chooses to run again, I’ll respect that decision and I’ll support him,’ Craig said, according to Politico.
Democrats, according to the CNN report, have increased anxiety that Trump, even though only a few years younger, will come off as more energetic by keeping with the pace of two or three events every day.
More than a dozen Democratic operatives expressed this feeling, including prominent figures within the party privately questioning Biden’s ability to keep up with an aggressive campaign travel schedule.
If Biden wins a second term, he will leave office at the age of 86.
Trump announced his candidacy for a second non-consecutive term in mid-November. The ex-president’s once Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced on Tuesday her candidacy for the White House.
Haley and Trump are the only two major Republicans who have officially launched their candidacy for 2024.