Hillary Clinton has weighed in on the risks of Joe Biden running for a second term in the White House, pointing out that his old age is a “legitimate issue.”
In an interview with MSNBC’s Alex Wagner, Clinton indicated that age is an issue for Biden as well as presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump:
I talked to people in the White House all the time, and you know, they know it’s an issue, but as I like to say, ‘look, it’s a legitimate issue. It’s a legitimate issue for [ex-President Donald] Trump who’s only three years younger, right? So it’s an issue.
Clinton’s comments come amid growing questions about Biden’s mental and physical fitness for office in a crucial election year that could see Trump make a triumphant return to the Oval Office.
Just this week, Special Counsel Robert Hur concluded a report into whether Biden had mishandled classified documents by saying that he had probably committed a crime but that his declining condition meant that bringing charges against him would not be in the public interest.
The report also pointed out that Biden “did not remember when he was vice president” and “did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died” when he was interviewed last October.
An NBC poll released Friday also found that a staggering 89 percent of Americans have concerns about Biden’s physical and mental health.
Clinton, meanwhile, insisted she would still be supporting Biden regardless because he has done such a fantastic job as president and also provided him with her invaluable advice on how to run a successful presidential campaign:
I’m for Joe Biden for reelection on the merits because I think he’s done a really good job as president. So, I think he should continue to get out and campaign. He’s been campaigning pretty vigorously across the country. He actually does events when he is interacting with people unlike Trump who stands on a stage and goes on and on for 90 minutes.
I think Biden also should lean into the fact that he’s experienced and that experience is not just in the political arena. It’s like, the stuff of, you know, human experience, character, wisdom. I think he should be willing to really pull that out … and I think he should kid more about it.
At a press conference on Thursday evening, Biden angrily defended himself against the findings of the report and insisted that he knows “what the hell I’m doing.” However, Biden seemingly contradicted that claim when he confused Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah El-Sisi with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
