Smokey Robinson pans ‘ridiculous’ Biden-Trump debate but says ‘age is a number’

Legendary singer Smokey Robinson says after their “ridiculous” debate, he won’t be singing “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” about either President Biden or former President Trump.

“I’m not comfortable with either one of them, after what we saw last week,” Robinson told “The Hill” on NewsNation’s Blake Burman in an interview airing on Thursday’s show.

NewsNation and The Hill are both owned by Nexstar Media Group.

The “Tracks of my Tears” crooner was asked about his reaction to Biden’s widely panned debate performance against Trump in Atlanta last week, in which the commander in chief repeatedly stumbled and appeared to lose his train of thought.

“It was a ridiculous debate, as far as I’m concerned,” Robinson said. “I just think that nobody showed up.”

The debate set off a firestorm of criticism from both Biden’s political opponents and allies alike, renewing questions about the president’s age and fitness for the job. Biden is 81 and Trump is 78.

But Robinson, an 84-year-old who’s been performing since he was 8, said “age is a number.”

“I can honestly tell you, I feel 50. I think that age is a frame of mind,” he said in response to a question about “how old is too old” for certain leadership positions. 

In 2021, Robinson predicted in an interview with ITK that Trump would run for office again in 2024 but not win. The Grammy Award winner expressed less confidence in his election forecast in his NewsNation appearance.

Asked by Burman if he still felt Trump would lose, Robinson replied with a laugh, “I hope I do, but I’m not sure.”

“This is the most up-in-the-air election I think that we’ve ever had in my lifetime,” he said. 

Robinson, who’s taking the stage at the annual Capitol Fourth concert in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, shared a one-word message to the country for July 4: “Vote.”