Is Biden too old to run in 2024?

09/22/23 • 49 min

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The top brass of the Democrat party in the US have all rallied behind Joe Biden with their eyes on the 2024 presidential election. But they have a problem. Repeated polls suggest support for the incumbent president is stagnant at best. Dangerously low at worst. A repeated concern among doubting voters is his age and health. If Biden wins a second term next year, and completes four years in power, he will be 86 when he steps down. Much of the electorate simply don’t think he has it in him. Republican front runner Donald Trump has long dubbed the president as Sleepy Joe. It’s a taunt that increasingly rattles the nerves of the Democratic Party faithful. As the president’s voice noticeably weakens and his gait stiffens there is a fear he just sounds and looks too old for the job. But is his physical and mental capacity being distorted by his adversaries to undermine his achievements? His team point to major policies he’s passed including his infrastructure bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, and his chips and science act. He’s also recently returned from the G20 summit in India and before that he travelled by planes, trains and car into war-torn Ukraine. And Joe Biden is not alone in the very upper echelons of American politics. Donald Trump is 77 years old, the oldest senator is 90 years old and the Republican senate minority leader is 81 years old and ailing. Does America have a problem with the gerontocracy not making way for new blood and what does it mean for the coming 2024 election?

Shaun Ley is joined by: Christy Setzer - a Democrat strategist who was spokesperson for vice president Al Gore's presidential campaign. Scott Jennings - a Republican strategist who was special assistant to President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2008 James Politi - Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times

Also in the programme: Jay Olshansky - Professor of Public Health at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Amanda Litman - co-founder and co-executive director of the organisation 'Run For Something', which recruits and supports young progressives trying to win office.

Produced by Ellen Otzen and Zak Brophy

Image: US President Joe Biden addresses the United Nations General Assembly Leader's Reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on September 19, 2023.Credit: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Produced by Ellen Otzen and Zak Brophy

Previous Episode

Ukraine’s offensive: Too slow to triumph?

America's top general has warned that Ukraine’s counter offensive is running out of time. Speaking to the BBC, Mark Milley admitted the offensive had gone more slowly than expected. With just one month of fighting before winter weather sets in, does the pace of the push back against Russian forces suggest that Nato needs to rethink?

The United States has been the largest provider of military assistance since the war began - more than 43 billion dollars worth, so far. With polls suggesting many Americans oppose any more, is the West in danger of willing the ends without delivering the means? If the will to resist Putin does begin to falter among his allies, President Zelensky says he is ready to make the case to Ukrainians for why a long war of attrition is preferable to negotiating with Russia. But with doubtful allies, might they soon not have much choice?

Shaun Ley is joined by Sir Laurie Bristow, UK’s Ambassador to Russia 2016-2020, and Deputy Ambassador to Russia 2007-2010; Alissa de Carbonnel - deputy program director, Europe and Central Asia for the International Crisis Group; Daniel L. Davis, senior fellow for think tank Defense Priorities and a former lieutenant colonel in the US Army.

Also featuring: Paul Adams, BBC diplomatic correspondent in Kiev; Alexander Rodnyansky, Adviser to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

(Photo: Ukrainian soldiers place a Ukrainian flag at a building, during an operation that claims to liberate the first village amid a counter-offensive, in a location given as Blahodatne, Donetsk Region, Ukraine,11 June, 2023. Credit: Reuters)

Next Episode

How a flood exposed Libya’s broken state

Earlier this month two dams collapsed after torrential rain in eastern Libya. Whole neighbourhoods in the city of Derna were swept into the sea. More than 15,000 Libyans are dead or missing and the full death toll may never been known. Since the ousting of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been riven by power struggles and currently has two governments - a UN-recognised one based in Tripoli, and another in the country's east backed by General Khalifa Haftar. He has been calling the flooding a natural disaster but many Libyans disagree, saying the eastern government had neglected the dams despite prior warnings about their fragile condition. There have been protests in Derna against the leadership in the region but anger is also being expressed across the country. The anguish and anger across Libya have now developed into demands for an investigation. But who will conduct this investigation? Libya is rich in oil wealth but the country's infrastructure is crumbling and the elites are increasingly accused of rampant corruption. Could this be a reset moment for Libya?

Shaun Ley is joined by: Mary Fitzgerald - A writer and researcher focused on Libya and non-resident scholar for the Middle East Institute think tank. Tarek Megerisi - Senior policy fellow with the Middle East and North Africa programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Elham Saudi - Co-founder and Director of Lawyers for Justice in Libya, an NGO focusing on accountability, human rights and the rule of law in Libya.

Also in the programme: Othman Abdul Jalil - Minister for health for the Eastern Libyan government. Noura El-Jerbi - A Libyan journalist from Derna but now living in Turkey.

Produced by Ellen Otzen and Zak Brophy

Image: A view from the area as search and rescue efforts continuing in disaster zones after the floods in Derna. Credit: Hamza Al Ahmar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.