Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is three years older than President Joe Biden, brushed off concerns about his age on “Morning Joe” Wednesday.
The 83-year-old California Democrat said age is “relative” and that she views Biden as just “a kid.”
“Age is relative,” Pelosi said. “I was in L.A. for some Democratic stuff recently and I met with Norman Lear who’s 100, going on 101, and he was telling me about some new shows he was involved in; I was meeting with Frank Gehry, who’s a 90-something architect, showing me new buildings he’s building throughout the world. And they were like, ’80’s? He’s a kid.’ It’s relative. He’s younger than I am, so he’s a kid to me, as well.”
Multiple polls have found a majority of Democratic voters believe Biden is too old to serve a second term. The president would be 86 years old by the time he left office in 2028.
The octogenarian’s mental capacity has also been called into question over his tendency to mutter indiscernible words and mix up his speech. In September 2022, Biden looked around for a deceased congresswoman at a White House conference weeks after she died in a car crash.
Reporters pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on the president’s mental acuity following the September incident. The press secretary excused Biden’s remark by saying Republican Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski was “on top of mind.” (RELATED: ‘I Think People Have To Just Watch Me’: Biden Reveals Thoughts On His Health, Running In 2024)
The president also appeared to shake hands with the air during a speech in North Carolina in April 2022. When he ended the speech, he turned around and put out his hand for a few seconds until seemingly realizing no one was there to greet him.
More recently, Biden fell onstage after tripping over a sandbag during the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation. He previously fell off his bike during a vacation in Delaware and nearly tripped down stairs at the Itsukushima Shrine in Hiroshima during his May visit to Japan.