Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Biden’s campaign co-chair, acknowledged in an interview that President Biden, 81, has “diminished energy” compared to when he was younger, but insisted that the president doesn’t show it. “mental weakness” and remains “insightful and authoritarian”.
Coons, in an interview with Politico’s “Playbook Deep Dive” podcast, said he is tired of the media’s relentless focus on Biden’s verbal slip-ups and speculation about whether he has suffered cognitive decline since winning the 2020 election.
“Of course, Joe Biden is over 80 years old and, like any human being over 80 years old, that means there is a small decrease in energy,” he acknowledged.
But he said the media should be more focused on what he called the “massive gap” in character, morality and ability between Biden and former President Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Coons noted that Biden has had “a lifelong stutter,” the effects of which flare up from time to time, but which he insisted is not a sign of mental confusion.
“I think what is highlighted in some of the attacks, in my opinion, that I see in other media, is not evidence of mental weakness, but it is evidence of a lifelong stutter, or the result of having an incredibly demanding and have served in public life for 50 years,” he said.
“When I say I find him insightful and authoritative, and I don’t worry about his mental acuity, I’m being honest,” he said.
Coons noted that both Biden and Trump at recent public events “misidentified who they were speaking to and who they met,” but said that public servants who speak frequently to the media, travel regularly and work long days “make similar slips.” ”
“I’m a little tired of the relentless focus on President Biden’s little slip-ups that I see other elected officials of comparable age make regularly and, frankly, other elected officials my age make regularly,” the 60-year-old said.
Biden is 81 and Trump will be 78 next week.
Trump was recently convicted in Manhattan on 34 felony counts of falsifying New York business records and will be sentenced on July 11. He faces up to 20 years in prison, but legal experts say they expect him to remain free while he appeals his conviction.
Trump’s Republican allies criticized Trump’s indictment as politically motivated.
Coons said the media should spend more time reporting on Trump’s character and his possible impact on the country if he is elected and less time raising questions about Biden’s physical and mental abilities.
“The number of times I’ve been interviewed on the question, ‘Is Joe Biden the same man he was when he was 60?’ It far surpasses the number of times I’ve been asked, ‘Are you scared for the future of our democracy, given what Donald Trump said today?’” he said.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
