Thursday night's debate was a rush of reality for Democrats. Not only is President Joe Biden the oldest to be elected president or hold office, but also he is going to be 86 if he serves a full second term.
Democrats are suddenly facing blowback for having ignored the fact Biden is old and at times incoherent, and they are mapping ways to prepare a proper response, according to reports.
"The goal is to let him walk off the stage," a source told Axios about the way to approach the president about stepping aside before the November election. "He came; he saw; he conquered. He wanted to get rid of Trump for the country; he wanted to prepare America for the future; and he wanted to help nurture the next generation to be a transitional president.
"He can say to himself, in all honesty: All three have now been accomplished.
"He got rid of Trump; helped prepare America through his legislation for the future; and, under his tenure, a generation of new Democrats have emerged."
The president did walk off the stage Thursday night, but it was gingerly and with the aid of first lady Jill Biden, who was next seen holding the mic Friday, leading the Raleigh, North Carolina, rally in a speech aired on Newsmax.
"This is not about him submitting to the will of others yelling at him that he failed," Axios' source added. "Joe Biden is too proud for that argument. He will not be dragged off the stage.
"You've got to give him the dignity to walk off on his own. The idea that it would happen in the immediate aftermath is clueless."
"The president is absolutely not dropping out," Biden campaign Lauren Hitt told Axios.
But, like his timid walk off the stage Thursday night, Democrats might be hoping the first lady lends him a hand to step down.
Don't count on it, she said at Friday's North Carolina rally. Her husband is getting "back up" after the debate.
"We did practices at night, but we cut all practices short to save his failing voice," a source told Axios. "The voice was a concern all week."
Republicans have reminded Biden's age and cognition questions have been a concern for almost a decade.
Ignore all that talk, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told Axios. Biden is great and youthful, he said.
"Not only does the president perform around the clock, but he maintains a schedule that tires younger aides, including foreign trips into active war zones, and he proves he has that capacity by delivering tangible results that pundits had declared impossible," Bates told Axios in a statement.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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