MSNBC’s Jen Psaki said that the recent public health struggles of elderly politicians aren’t a positive for her ex-boss, President Joe Biden, as he seeks to convince Americans to reelect him despite his own age issues.
The former White House press secretary was part of a group discussion on Thursday’s edition of the “On With Kara Swisher” podcast where she acknowledged that incidents involving two geriatric lawmakers, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the sad remains of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) aren’t a positive for the octogenarian leader next year.
A series of recent polls from major media outlets showing growing public concern over Biden’s age were problematic enough without the optics of his fellow octogenarians making a convincing case to voters that it’s time to turn the reins of power over to a new generation.
“Does it help or hurt that there’s other elderly people struggling in our political universe? Right. You see Dianne Feinstein, Mitch McConnell having his moments. Does that affect it, that everyone’s thinking – old Congress and there’s the head of it,” Swisher asked the group which also included Franklin Foer of The Atlantic, Astead Herndon of The New York Times, and Axios’ Alex Thompson.
“It unquestionably hurts,” Psaki said. “There’s a feeling of like, ‘these people are so old,'” she added. “They’re so old and white and they’re disconnected from what we’re experiencing and what we’re living. And all of them are old. And why are all these old people running Washington?”
The two top examples of what she’s referring to are obviously McConnell and Feinstein, both of whom missed a lengthy amount of time due to health issues this year.
The Kentucky Republican was knocked out of action after taking a bad fall while at a private party at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Washington, D.C. in March and more recently, not one, but two incidents where he suddenly froze up while talking to reporters at news conferences.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared unable to speak halfway through a press conference. He was led away from the press conference and towards his office by fellow GOP Sen. John Barrasso. A short time later, McConnell returned and told CNN’s Manu Raju he was “fine.” pic.twitter.com/wsrvFa2ZQO
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 26, 2023
Feinstein, who just hit the 90-year-old mark, is in even worse shape than her elderly GOP colleague. Missing time after being hospitalized this spring with shingles but has seemed to be senile for years, leading to even members of her own party to call for her to step down rather than stubbornly cling to her seat despite her sad condition.
She was once again briefly hospitalized after tripping over a chair last month.
Feinstein fall gives panicked Democrats a scare as they pull a ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ to prop her up https://t.co/kqbTCdWIbj pic.twitter.com/mZELijR7gI
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) August 17, 2023
“They’re not the same, obviously. Different health — all the things, we can explain it, but when you’re explaining it, it’s kind of a challenge. So I think it’s unquestionably bad,” Psaki added.
There has been much hand-wringing within the Beltway and in media studios after David Ignatius, a respected longtime Washington Post columnist called for both Biden and his even more unpopular running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris to bow out of the race.
However, Psaki dismissed the influence of the column that rocked the political establishment on regular Americans, the type of people who are sneered down upon by condescending coastal elites like herself.
“That is not the conversation happening in the country. That is a conversation outlined in that op-ed that is happening at dinner parties in Washington and maybe some other coastal cities,” she said.
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