Aside from the corruption investigation currently being conducted by House Republicans, there are plenty of reasons that a growing number of Americans believe President Joe Biden is unfit to serve another term in the White House.
From his apparent cognitive deficiencies to his physical limitations, the octogenarian is widely seen as too old and too frail to meet the demands of the job. That fact has not gone unnoticed by Democratic Party leaders and operatives behind the scenes, and a few have even started to speak out publicly regarding the perceived need to replace him at the top of the 2024 presidential ticket.
Former Obama administration adviser David Axelrod, for example, recently sounded off on the current situation with a series of social media posts stemming from the fact that former President Donald Trump is outperforming Biden in a number of key polls.
It's very late to change horses; a lot will happen in the next year that no one can predict & Biden's team says his resolve to run is firm.
He's defied CW before but this will send tremors of doubt thru the party–not "bed-wetting," but legitimate concern. https://t.co/g6zeWF0T87— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 5, 2023
Although Axelrod dutifully touted the president’s supposed accomplishments and denounced Trump as “a dangerous, unhinged demagogue,” he encouraged Biden to reconsider running for re-election before it is too late to back out.
“Only [Biden] can make this decision,” he wrote. “If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in HIS best interest or the country’s?”
Not only has Trump made significant gains on Biden in recent polls, but voters have made it clear that they believe the GOP presidential primary front-runner is mentally better equipped for the office than the incumbent.
Nearly three-fourths of registered voters told pollsters that they believe Biden is “just too old to be an effective president” compared to just 39% who said the same thing about Trump in a new survey conducted by The New York Times and Siena College.
The same poll revealed that a clear majority — 62% to 35% — felt that Biden does not have the “mental sharpness to be an effective president.”
In Trump’s case, respondents were more likely to indicate that he is mentally capable of the task by a 52% to 44% margin.
Axelrod’s statement addressed the undeniable reality that Biden’s age has become “his biggest liability” ahead of next year’s election.
“Among all the unpredictables there is one thing that is sure: the age arrow only points in one direction,” he concluded.
