UPDATE: Joe Biden and Age

By Don Varyu

March 2, 2024

Recently I published a piece attacking the New York Times' obsesive coverage of Joe Biden's age, and its supposed impact on his ability to effectively hold office. (If you missed it, that first story is here.)

In that piece, one of the paper's leading reporters suggested his own extensive reporting showeed no one suggesting that imparied performance was evident.

Now a second NYT star, David Leonhardt, has also weighed in on the issue. Appearing with popular podcaster Scott Galloway, here is how he responded to a Biden age question:

"Age is absolutely a legitimate issue...for both candidates. At the same time, as a journalist, I'm a little bit haunted by a Gallup poll that came out after the 2016 campaign that asked Americans what they'd heard about each candidate. And the number one thing that most Americans reported hearing about Hillary Clinton was about her emails.

"I think Hillary Clinton's emails were a legitimate story; (but) surely, they were not the most important thing about Hillary Clinton in 2016.

"And I worry a little bit that those of us in the media are at some risk of repeating that in talking so much about Joe Biden’s age, in particular, that we come to make it seem like this is the only issue in this election.

"Joe Biden's performance as president suggests he absolutely can do this job. And so we're not dealing with someone who appears to be incompetent as president, whether you agree or disagree with his policies. Just look how much legislation he's gotten passed; nore than I expected, quite frankly—much of it bipartisan!

"I'm just trying to get to the fact that on the one hand, it's a legitimate issue, and on the other hand, I think sometimes  those of us in the media have a tendency to take a legitimate issue and make it seem like the only issue…and I think we'd be making a big mistake if we did that with Joe Biden's age."