Updated April 26, 2023 at 3:43 PM ET

President Biden said that his own age doesn't register with him, despite recent polling that shows Americans have concern over the president's age as he runs for a second term.

At a press conference with the South Korean president on Wednesday, Biden fielded questions from reporters about concerns from voters.

"With regard to age, I can't even say I guess how old I am, I can't even say the number. It doesn't register with me," Biden said on his age, adding that people are going to watch the campaign and judge for themselves.

"I respect them taking a hard look at it — I'd take a hard look at it, as well. I took a hard look at it before I decided to run, and I feel good. I feel excited about the prospects," he said.

An NBC poll released this weekend found that 70% of Americans don't want Biden to run for reelection, with half of those citing age as a major factor.

Biden was 29 when he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, becoming the fifth youngest person to do so. Decades later, at age 78, he became the oldest living president the day he was sworn into office. If elected to a second term, he would be 86 by the end of it.

The president said the same polling data that shows concern for his age also shows support for what he's done in office.

"When the same polling data asks what kind of job I've done, it gets overwhelmingly positive results," Biden said at a press conference Wednesday.

The data from the NBC poll shows 41% of adults polled approve of Biden's job performance and 54% disapprove, which is down from January. Biden seemed to separate that from approval of particular legislative accomplishments, including creating manufacturing jobs and climate investments.

Biden works out five days a week and received a clean bill of health at his annual physical earlier this year, with his physician concluding that he "remains fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations."

That doesn't mean that his age won't be an issue on the campaign trail.

In fact, his age as a factor is "indisputable," says David Axelrod, chief strategist for President Obama's campaigns and senior political commentator for CNN.

"When you look at polling, when you watch focus groups, it's the thing that people bring up first," he says. "We are in uncharted waters, we've never had a president this old."

Still, Axelrod says, there are "upsides" to Biden's age: wisdom, experience and perspective.

"And at a time when there's so much churn and turmoil, those three qualities are assets for him," he told Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep.

Cristina Tzinzún Ramirez, president of the progressive nonprofit NextGen America, says what is most important to young voters is progressive policy change — not age.

"Young voters in the last few elections have turned out in historic numbers. Young people overwhelmingly in 2020, during the Democratic primary, supported the oldest candidate in the race, Bernie Sanders. And then they turned out in overwhelming numbers to vote for Joe Biden."

Ramirez says she thinks young people will turn out again, because Joe Biden has delivered on specific issues they care about: gun reform, climate change legislation, marijuana reform and student debt cancellation. "Ultimately, that's what people are going to measure him by," she said.

Biden's defense: "Watch me"

Questions about Biden's age are nothing new. His opponents used it against him when he ran in 2020, and have continued pointing to his on-camera stumbles to insinuate he is suffering from cognitive issues (a line of attack that often backfires, as NPR has reported).

When asked about Biden's age in a recent White House press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said "It's the same thing that we heard in 2020. Right? If you look at what the President has done this past two years, he's been able to deliver and get things done."

Axelrod argues that Biden's approach — particularly when it comes to things like being less reactive on social media — is part of why voters elected him in the first place, and that those qualities were what people wanted after the tenure of former President Donald Trump.

Biden's approach is basically "watch me," Axelrod points out, using the phrase the president himself has used.

Axelrod describes being president as "the hardest job on the planet," because of the endless hours and weighty decisions. He says Biden's staff would point to some of his high points as proof he can do it, such as his February State of the Union address, in which he made a pitch to "finish the job."

"He stood on his feet for an hour, he engaged his hecklers and he was triumphant," Axelrod says. "And that's what they're going to say is 'just watch him.'"

But that won't necessarily be enough, says Axelrod, advising Biden to address his age openly, both the "obvious risks" and the advantages.

"He often says 'don't judge me versus the almighty, judge me versus the alternative,'" he adds. "And I think that's what they're counting on now, his strategists — that this isn't going to be a referendum on Joe Biden, this is going to be a choice. And the choice very well may be the same choice we faced four years ago."

Trump isn't a young man either

Trump, the current frontrunner in the Republican primary field, is only four years younger than Biden. He will be 77 in June.

A rematch between the two is looking likely, with a recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finding that two-thirds of Republicans would still vote for Trump even if he is found guilty of a crime.

His age could be a concern for voters too, Axelrod says, noting that former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is making "generational change a fundamental aspect of her campaign."

In her kickoff speech, Haley called for "mandatory mental competency tests" for candidates over the age of 75.

Axelrod believes others will make a similar argument about Trump's age, "because you can't really exploit this vulnerability as well in Biden if you run a candidate who's basically the same age."

And if either party ends up with a younger candidate, can they make the argument that it's time to move on from the politics of the past?

"They can make that argument and I think it will land with some voters," Axelrod says. "And they'll choose between that and those qualities I mentioned before: wisdom, experience and perspective."

Kaity Kline contributed production and reporting, and John Helton and Miranda Kennedy edited.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Let's address one question that voters have raised about President Biden's bid for a second term. An NBC survey the other day showed most Americans do not want Biden to run again, and many - not all, but many - said his age was a concern. There is a right-wing version of this critique highlighting whatever Biden may have done on camera that can be made to seem odd, but there is another version of this critique that's just numbers. The president is 80. He's been on the stage for decades, and his many past speeches include this critique of then-candidate Donald Trump at the 2016 Democratic convention.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: He's trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. Give me a break. That's a bunch of malarkey.

(CHEERING)

INSKEEP: Powerful speech seven years ago. Seven years later, in his State of the Union address before Congress, the president's voice sounded a bit thinner. Although, he easily answered Republican hecklers and made a case for his stewardship.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BIDEN: I stand here tonight after we've created, with the help of many people in this room, 12 million new jobs - more jobs created in two years than any president's created in four years, because of you all - because of the American people.

(CHEERING)

INSKEEP: You hear the president's case for the economy there, but how does he answer that age question? David Axelrod knows the president well. Axelrod was chief strategist for President Obama's campaigns, with, of course, Biden as his running mate. He's now a senior political commentator for CNN.

Mr. Axelrod, welcome back.

DAVID AXELROD: Good to be with you, Steve.

INSKEEP: OK. Age is a sensitive topic. People would not like to discuss it at all, really. But do you agree that in this case it's an issue as many voters seem to think?

AXELROD: I mean, I think that's indisputable. When you look at polling, when you watch focus groups, it's the thing that people bring up first. If you ask if they have any concerns, that's the concern that they bring up. So it's an issue, and it's an issue for the reason that you say. We are in uncharted waters. We've never had a president this old. And when he finishes his term, he would be 86 years old. And so, yes, it's going to be an issue in the campaign.

INSKEEP: You have seen presidents operate. You've seen one very close. How physically draining is this job?

AXELROD: Well, it's the hardest job on the planet because you have incoming hour by hour, and the hours may be in the middle of the night. And every decision you make is a weighty decision that affects lives, that affects fortunes. So, yes, it's a very, very difficult job.

INSKEEP: How does the president answer that? What is the way that you would advise?

AXELROD: Well, you know how he has answered, which is to say, watch me. And I was struck, actually, by the clips that you played, because that appearance at the State of the Union was one of the high points of his administration. And if you were to ask his administration, his supporters, his staff about this very question that you just asked me, they'd point to that speech, and they'd say he stood on his feet for an hour. He engaged his hecklers. And he was triumphant. And that's what he - I mean, that's what they're going to say. Just watch him.

But I don't think that that is necessarily going to be enough. He's going to have to talk about it, and he's going to have to talk about the obvious, you know, risks involved with that, but also the upside of it, in that the upside are wisdom; the upside is experience; the upside is perspective. And at a time when there's so much churn and turmoil, those three qualities are assets for him.

INSKEEP: I've thought about that when observing his presidency. The people around him have insisted, for example, that Twitter is not real life, that the latest thing on social media maybe doesn't have to be reacted to at all. And there is a kind of stability in that approach.

AXELROD: Yeah, there is. There is. And I think that's why people elected Joe Biden in the first place. Remember, age was an issue the last time he ran, and the Republicans ran this issue at him. And that was part of the answer that he gave. And his qualities were qualities that people wanted after the sort of chaotic reign of Donald Trump.

Now, you know, even though we're talking about this issue today, and I do think it's an issue, we also - you know, he often says don't judge me versus the Almighty; judge me versus the alternative. And I think that's what they're counting on now, his strategists, that this isn't going to be a referendum on Joe Biden. This is going to be a choice, and the choice very well may be the same choice we faced four years ago.

INSKEEP: And of course, Donald Trump, we should note, is just four years younger than Biden. He's in his mid-70s. Would that be a concern for Republican voters in the same way?

AXELROD: Well, it might be. It might be. I think that that will be an issue that a lot - that - Nikki Haley is making generational change a fundamental aspect of her campaign. I think that argument is going to be made by others because you can't really exploit this vulnerability as well in Biden if you run a candidate who's basically the same age.

INSKEEP: Very briefly, if either party ends up with a younger candidate, can they make that argument that it's just time to move on from the politics of the past?

AXELROD: They can make that argument, and I think it will land with some voters, and, you know, they'll choose between that and those qualities that I mentioned before - wisdom, experience and perspective.

INSKEEP: David Axelrod, former Obama strategist.

Thank you so much. Always a pleasure.

AXELROD: Good to be with you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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