President Biden is growing”a little older and a little slower” in the final days of his presidency, according to a New York Times report.
“This is the twilight of Mr. Biden’s presidency, the final days of the final chapter of an epic half-century political journey that has had more than its share of twists and turns. Time is catching up with Mr. Biden,” correspondents Peter Baker and Zolan Kanno-Youngs wrote.
The NYT report continued, “He looks a little older and a little slower every day. Aides say he remains sharp in the Situation Room, calling on world leaders to broker a ceasefire in Lebanon or tackle the chaos of Syria’s rebellion. It’s hard to imagine that he seriously thought he could do the most stressful job in the world for another four years.”
In the wake of newly elected President Donald Trump’s victory, they reported how Biden’s vulnerability seemed “painfully obvious to those who traveled with him” over the past month.
President Biden has been looking weak lately, according to people who have traveled with him. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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“After speaking for seven minutes on a day of decreasing humidity, with a blue shirt hanging loosely over his body, he turned and slowly shuffled along a dirt path as several people in the audience unaccustomed to seeing him up close said they held their breath, afraid he might stumble (Aides said his gait was no more unsteady than normal),” Baker and Kanno-Youngs wrote.
They described allies noting that Biden “sometimes kept a light schedule and sometimes mumbled, making him difficult to understand.” His recent trip to the African country of Angola has reportedly raised concerns.
“During an arrival ceremony on his trip to Angola this month, the day after a long, tiring flight across the ocean that would have taxed any octogenarian, President João Lourenço suddenly grabbed Mr. Biden’s arm to take him a step up,” the Times said. reported.
“When Mr. Biden visited the National Slavery Museum that afternoon, he did not actually enter the main building to view the exhibits; instead, artifacts were brought out for him to display, which two people familiar with the planning attributed to fears that the steep Stairs would be too much of a challenge,” it continued. “(The White House denied that the stairs were a problem and said he was not brought in for planning and logistical reasons.)”
Despite this issue about his age, Democrats reportedly said they “wish he would use his position more assertively in the time he has left.”
Democrats fear Biden is not doing enough in the final weeks of his presidency. (Nicole Neri/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“He would have to dramatically push the things he represented until the last day to seal his legacy and its memory in the American public because it is so diametrically opposed to what Trump is bringing into the White House,” MSNBC said presenter Rev. Al Sharpton told the Times.
The article acknowledged, as some critics have done so recentlythat Trump is seen in the public eye as more presidential than Biden.
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“Like it other lame-duck presidents“While Mr. Trump already dominates the conversation more than new presidents typically do, he is busy making policy statements and interacting with world leaders without waiting for him to leave the political stage. Upon taking office, the president actually occupying the White House has become a national afterthought.”
The New York Times, and especially Peter Baker, has been pressed about the way they reported Biden’s age and health in the run-up to the election. In September, Baker acknowledged the difficulty of reporting about the issue.
The New York Times was one of several media outlets criticized for reporting on Biden’s age. (Getty Images)
“It’s very personal. Anyone who has had a father or mother of the same age, and you talk to them by taking their keys, these are not easy problems. That’s a sense of what the country is going through with Biden,” the Times correspondent said. . “And how do you write something in the right way, balanced and yet cool… We wrote these stories and broadcast these stories repeatedly in recent years. The editors, our writers, got massive complaints from the White House about it. The campaign lasted after the reporters focused on this. And yet it was our responsibility to do that.”
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