Some rising liberal stars are starting to distance themselves from President Joe Biden in an effort to apparently set themselves up for political success in the future.
Following the release of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report, which questioned the cognitive abilities of the president, some of these rising stars are starting to call Biden “old” when talking with the media.
Hur’s report outlined multiple examples of when the president couldn’t remember the timeframe of some major events in his life, including the death of one of his sons and his time spent as vice president.
The report called Biden a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
While the White House immediately struck back at the report, defending the mental sharpness of the president, other Democrats haven’t fallen in line with that.
Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who just won the special election in New York for a seat on the House, said that “the bottom line [about Biden is that] he’s old.”
Another rising Democrat, Representative Katie Porter of California, has spoken about instituting age limits for politicians. Porter is running for a seat on the Senate against fellow Democratic Representative Adam Schiff.
The seat that the two are pursuing belonged to the late Dianne Feinstein, who was 90 years old when she passed away last year, and was still serving in the Senate at the time.
Speaking with Politico about age limits for politicians, Porter said:
“It’s a conversation that we should be thinking about. We’re having that conversation and that debate about the Supreme Court. And I think it’s hypocritical for us to not be thinking about having it given that we have some of the same long-term representation that we have.”
At the same time, many Democratic lawmakers are “largely” still unified behind the president as he seeks reelection in November.
At 81 years old, Biden is already the oldest president to serve in the White House. If he were to be reelected in November, he’d be 86 years old at the end of his second term.
A poll that was taken recently revealed that an overwhelming majority of people in the U.S. think Biden is too old to serve another term. These results, plus the fact that some Democrats are speaking out about their party’s leader, has some political consultants believing that more Democrats could follow on this path.
As one consultant who’s based in California told Politico:
“It would be part of a drumbeat narrative to create separation between you and Biden.”
Some Democrats, though, are simply answering questions about Hur’s report by saying they haven’t seen it — despite obviously knowing what the overarching point of it was.
Gavin Newsom, the 56-year-old governor of California who’s been mentioned as a future presidential candidate, said while appearing at a press conference:
“I haven’t read the special counsel’s report. I know the president’s reaction to it — it’s been quite pointed and vocal.”
