Hillary Clinton agrees that concerns about President Joe Biden’s age are valid — to a point.
The former U.S. secretary of state expounded on the matter on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday after co-host Mika Brzezinski mentioned Mitt Romney’s recent criticism of the 80-year-old president and pointed to a Washington Post op-ed urging him to drop out of the 2024 race.
“Well, the question is legitimate,” Clinton said about Biden’s age. “But the conclusion that people draw is, I think, off base. Look, I am supporting President Biden and Vice President Harris because of what they’ve gotten accomplished. I’m kind of old-fashioned that way.”
Among the accomplishments she cited were the administration’s efforts to bring down drug prices and to “compete with China on advanced manufacturing,” which it is doing via the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act. She also claimed to have visited the president and first lady Jill Biden this week and praised “their energy, their commitment” and “determination” to forge ahead.
“I like to see people … tackle big problems, bring people together and try to forge solutions,” Clinton said Thursday. “I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m kind of happy that we’re fixing our bridges and our roads and the rest of our infrastructure. … I could go on and on.”
“So when people say to me, ‘Well, he’s old,’ [I say,] ‘Yeah, that’s right, but look at what he’s gotten done,’” she added. “And then, if that’s not enough for you, look at the alternative — a wrecking crew. People who, as Mitt Romney said, do not even believe in our Constitution.”
Donald Trump, whose defeat of Clinton in 2016 became the biggest political upset for 21st-century Democrats, certainly appears to have his own ideas about the law. In March, he became the first current or former U.S. president formally charged with federal crimes, and has since been indicted three more times.
The GOP has a different perspective, of course, having announced the beginnings of a formal impeachment inquiry on Tuesday. Though they have yet to produce any material evidence of such, they claim Biden, while serving as vice president from 2009 to 2017, profited from his son Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.
Joe Biden’s approval rating currently sits at 42%, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
While Clinton was adamant Thursday that the Republicans “don’t want to solve problems” and only “engage in meaningless, endless partisan sniping,” it’s not just conservatives who are concerned about the president’s age — as shown in a recent Associated Press poll.
The survey, which was the basis of Tuesday’s Washington Post op-ed, showed that 77% of the American public — including 69% of Democrats — believe Biden is too old to effectively lead for another four years. For Clinton and her peers, however, age is just a number.
“I’m all in to reelect people who got things done,” she told Brzezinski. “That’s what this country needs. We need to remember that we can get good stuff done and that we are by far the best-positioned country for the 21st century to continue to lead and make a difference.”
As for those who differ, she concluded: “We just got to get the naysayers and the whiners and the snipers to just go to the back of the room because they’re not helping at all.”