Nobody will ever accuse The New York Times of hiding its left-wing bias. And although the Wall Street Journal is much less leftist, it isn’t exactly a mainline conservative paper either.
Nevertheless, both papers are relative titans of their collective industry, and their word still carries gravitas with swathes of moderates and left-leaning readers.
Much to the president’s chagrin, over the past few days, both papers’ editorial boards levied the exact same criticism against Joe Biden: he is too old to be president.
Considering the fact that neither paper is known for taking consistent, hardcore conservative stances, it’s shocking to see either criticize the president — let alone both of them.
It goes to show that, at this point, Biden’s age and apparent cognitive decline are too evident to ignore, even for moderate and liberal news publications.
The Journal’s op-ed was penned on Friday. It didn’t exactly hold back in its criticism of the president.
“The public understands what Mr. Biden apparently won’t admit: that electing an octogenarian in obvious decline for another four years could be an historic mistake,” the Friday editorial read.
“[A]sking the country to elect a man who is 80 years old and whose second term would end when he is 86 is a risky act that borders on selfish. It’s impossible to know Mr. Biden’s real physical and mental state because the White House goes to great lengths to hide it. But his decline is clear to anyone who isn’t willfully blind.”
The piece goes on to speculate that Biden’s decline could very well accelerate in the 19 months leading up to the 2024 Election Day.
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If that were to happen, the Journal’s editorial board speculates that at the last minute, the election could swing in Republicans’ favor.
Of course, given how readily evident Biden’s mental decline has already become, perhaps the election has already swung that way.
Only time will tell.
The Times’s editorial, published on Saturday, was a tad more subtle in its criticism, not a surprise given its general leanings.
Nevertheless, the core point remained the same as that of the Journal.
“[C]andidates shouldn’t pretend, as Mr. Biden often does, that advanced age isn’t an issue. Mr. Biden is 80 now, the oldest American to serve as president, and even supporters, including the political strategist David Axelrod, have expressed deep worries that his age will be both a political liability in 2024 and a barrier to a successful second term,” the Times’s editorial read.
“Concerns about age — both in terms of fitness for office and being out of touch with the moment — are legitimate…”
It used to be the case that conservatives were called conspiracy theorists for noting the president’s obvious mental decline.
Now, two of the nation’s largest news publications, neither of which is openly conservative, are making the exact same point.
Americans on opposite ends of the political spectrum don’t seem to agree about anything these days.
Now, though, it appears that there is one thing we can all agree on.
Joe Biden is too old to be president.
