President Biden said that people, including some of his own Democratic supporters, who think he should step aside because of his age are not wrong, but argued that he has more work to do to finish the job in a second term.
“They’re not right or wrong,” Biden told CNN in an interview that aired Sunday. “Look, to use the phrase again, I think we’re at an inflection point. I think the world is changing. And I think there is one thing that comes with age, if you’re — been honest about it your whole life, and that is some wisdom.”
The president’s age has so far proven to be a stumbling block to his reelection bid, with U.S. voters expressing in recent polls that they think he is too old to serve another four-year term. Biden, at 80, is already the oldest person to serve as president, and he would be 86 at the end of a second term.
Biden argued on his own behalf that progress has been made so far in his first term, including settling global matters while Russia is at war with Ukraine and his leading the NATO alliance.
“I think we’re on the cusp of being able to make significant positive changes in the world,” he said. “Really, honest to God, I do. You see what we’ve done in Europe. Europe is more united than it’s ever been since World War II — end of World War II. You see what we have been able to do in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.”
“I think we’re putting the world together in a way that is going to make things significantly, how can I say it, more secure for people. We’re uniting democracies — have the possibility of uniting democracies in a way that hadn’t happened ever,” he added.
The interview comes as the president is set to leave for Europe to attend the NATO summit in Lithuania, where the war in Ukraine and Sweden’s and Ukraine’s acceptance in the alliance are all topics on the table.
Meanwhile, at home, 68 percent of voters in a recent NBC News poll said they worry about Biden’s health, with 55 percent reflecting “major” concerns.
In a USA Today/Suffolk University poll of Democrats and Independents, 37 percent say the president’s age made them less likely to vote for him. A third poll from The Economist-YouGov found that 45 percent of independents say Biden’s health and age “severely limit his ability to do the job.”