'We've Got to Get Beyond This': VP Kamala Harris Fiercely Defends President Joe Biden's Age as 2024 Election Looms
Jan. 24 2024, Published 1:49 p.m. ET
VP Kamala Harris made it clear that President can rule the country in his eighties — and he can rule it well.
While sitting down for a conversation with Katie Couric on her award-winning iHeartPodcast “Next Question with Katie Couric,” Harris, 59, was asked if voters should be concerned about Biden's age, as he turned 81 in November.
"The age thing, voters are concerned. According to almost every poll, that is an issue. And I was curious to get your take on this – four years ago, I think it was a rally in Detroit, and then-candidate Biden was at a rally with you, Cory Booker and Gretchen Whitmer…He says, ‘Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else. There's an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of the country.’ And I wondered, when you heard that, if you thought that was a four-year bridge or an eight-year bridge?” the journalist, 67, asked Harris during the podcast, which released on Wednesday, January 24.
“I want to get to the heart of what I think you're raising, which you have said is his age. So let's talk about that. I spend a lot of time with Joe Biden, be it in the Oval Office or the Situation Room. And I can tell you, this is someone who is tireless in terms of working on behalf of the American people…And it is because of all of that that we have been able to pass transformational work, bipartisan work. When we've been able to do it, a large part of it is because Joe Biden – I've watched him – sits in that Oval Office with the leaders on the two sides and helps people figure out that compromise is actually a good thing and solutions are a good thing. I've been in the Oval Office when heads of state from around the world, in particular our allies, call up Joe Biden and ask for his advice, and he gives it," the politician said.
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She continued: "It is Joe Biden who is without any question – and leaders around the world would admit it – the one who was able to bring together NATO to support Ukraine. So this whole issue that they are raising about his age is, again, because they've got nothing to run on. And I just think that we've got to get beyond this, because I think ultimately, what the American people deserve is that their leaders perform by way of solutions and uplifting the condition of their lives.”
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As OK! previously reported, Biden's mental fitness has been called into question over the past few months.
However, in September, he hit back at the haters.
“I tell you what, someone said, ‘You know what? That Biden, he’s getting old, man. I tell you what. Well, guess what? Guess what? You know, the only thing that comes with age is a little bit of wisdom. I’ve been doing this longer than anybody, and guess what? I’m going to continue to do it, with your help.”