He may joke about the matter, present it as a sign of wisdom, but o joe biden, who celebrates his 81st birthday today, is well aware that his age is his main handicap a year before the 2024 presidential election.

During a recent speech to auto workers, the US president tried to play down concerns about his physical appearance and mental clarity.

When someone in the audience fell during his speech, Biden first asked, “Are you okay?”, before adding, “I want the reporters to know it wasn’t me.”

It was a reference to the falls that the American president had in the past, the photos and videos of which went around the world.

Bet

The Democrat is already the oldest president in American history. If he wins a second term, he will leave the White House at age 86.

Biden’s health is good, according to the most recent medical report in February, but by voting for him, Americans should bet that this will not change, despite his already advanced age.

But Americans don’t seem to like that bet, according to polls.

A recent Siena Institute poll of six key US states published in the New York Times revealed that 71% of voters consider Biden too old to be president. Only 39% had the same view of Donald Trump, who, at age 77, isn’t much younger.

Seeing this poll, former Democratic strategist David Axelrod asked Biden to ask himself “whether he is running for a second term in the presidency with his own interest in mind or the country’s.”

So much emphasis on age is unfair, says S. Jay Olshansky, who studies longevity at the University of Illinois. “Old age is no longer the same as it used to be,” he declares.

“Flourishing”

“Much of the population reaches their eighth decade perfectly capable of being president and doing whatever they want,” he continues.

Before the 2020 election, Biden had limited his travels due to the covid-19 pandemic. But this time he will be plowing the US while also serving as president.

Although his doctor calls him “thriving,” it’s undeniable that Biden’s age is showing. His walk shows stiffness and many times when he speaks, his voice is like a mumble, hard to hear. He uses a shorter and more stable ladder to board the presidential aircraft, and gaffes in his speeches are often the subject of commentary.

“Super Seniors”

“A lot of people seem to focus on my age. I understand that, believe me,” the president assured in September during a meeting with Democratic donors.

Many times he has jokingly stated that he is 800 years old, while when he met the 37-year-old president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, he commented: “my only problem with you is that you are too young.”

But Biden often emphasizes that his age gives him “wisdom.”

Genetically speaking, Biden and Trump are “super-elderly,” a term researchers use to describe people who remain mentally alert into old age, Olshansky said.

Besides, he states that he has discovered that for American presidents “biological time seems to pass more slowly” than for the rest of the population.