Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell struck up a friendship during their nearly quarter-century in the Senate together. Now in their 80s, the Democratic president and the Senate GOP leader appear to be giving political cover to each other as they fend off questions about their advanced age and health issues.
Notably, McConnell, R-Ky., 81, hasn’t joined Donald Trump, 77, and other Republicans who have attacked Biden’s age, health and mental acuity as he seeks re-election.
And after McConnell’s second freeze-up last week, Biden was one of the first to call McConnell, telling reporters that his “friend” sounded like “his old self” and that such episodes are a “part of his recovery” from a fall and a concussion this year.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Now in their 80s, the Democratic president and the Senate GOP leader appear to be giving political cover to each other as they fend off questions about their advanced age and health issues.
Notably, McConnell, R-Ky., 81, hasn’t joined Donald Trump, 77, and other Republicans who have attacked Biden’s age, health and mental acuity as he seeks re-election.
McConnell’s public health incidents have come as Republicans are ramping up attacks on Biden’s age and mental fitness, a subject voters are expressing major concerns about heading into the 2024 election cycle.
A Wall Street Journal poll out this week found that 73% of registered voters believe Biden is too old to run for president, while 60% said they think he isn’t “mentally up for the job.”
Returning to the Senate this week after the monthlong summer recess, McConnell sought to project a business-as-usual attitude and calm his colleagues’ nerves about his latest health scare.
Immediately after McConnell spoke, one of his former top aides, Steven Law, who runs a McConnell-aligned super PAC, gave a presentation touting strong GOP fundraising numbers — which Hawley described as “a little surprising for the setting.”
The original article contains 1,375 words, the summary contains 190 words. Saved 86%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
You could have stopped after the first sentence. That’s the whole enchilada.