Bill Maher criticized Joe Biden and his advisers for not dealing with the reality that the president’s age is catching up with him as he campaigns for a second term.
Biden’s age and mental acuity appear to be proving to be a problematic issue as the election approaches and most Americans, including Democrats, believe he is too old to run for president again.
The HBO Real Time host urged Biden, 81, to “lean into” his age and “let his old fart flag fly.”
‘If Democrats want to win the next presidential election, they need to find a way to make the Biden age issue work for them. Because you know what’s really aging about Joe Biden? Complaining about his age,” Maher began his Friday night monologue.
‘Real Time’ host Bill Maher urged President Biden to accept his age and suggested he should ‘let his old fart flag fly.’
‘Instead of trying to refute all the “too old to be president” criticisms, Joe should accept them. He stops saying “I’m ready as ever.” Nobody believes it. Don’t try to deny the age issue, lean into it. Bend over, bend over like you’re eating soup,” Maher jokes.
And admit it! Say, “Yes, I’m bad with names and I walk like a little boy with a full diaper, but I believe in democracy.”
Maher points out how Democratic candidates had become defensive of late about who they really are and noted that American voters could see through any insincerity.
‘Be yourself! “And you, Joe, are old,” said Maher. You’re so old that you once fell down the stairs of the Underground Railroad. “You’re so old that your bad son with a drug problem is 54 years old,” Maher joked.
He advised him to behave similarly to how former Republican presidential candidate, the late John McCain, acted during his 2008 campaign.
“I’m older than dirt, I’m more scarred than Frankenstein, but I’ve learned a few things along the way,” McCain, then 71, said during a debate.
Maher then joked that Biden should appear at the State of the Union embracing his age and using a walker.
“No one cares if you can ride a bike and trying to do things like that only sets you up for failure,” Maher said while referencing a June 2022 photo of Biden falling off his bike.
“No one cares if you can ride a bike and trying to do things like that only sets you up for failure,” Maher said while referencing a photo of Biden falling off his bike.
‘You recently joined TikTok to win over kids, stop that shit right now! It’s not authentic and it won’t work!’ he warned.
‘You’re not following demographics. In 2020, a record number of eligible voters under the age of 24 came out as gay. But did you go out to vote? Not so much. Less than half. But nearly 72 percent of people over 65 voted. Those are your people, Joe. That ‘Matlock’ crowd. Contact them… Take all your Twitter ads and put them on CBS. Tell America I feel your joint pain.
“When the president delivers the State of the Union, I say he should fly the old flag,” Maher continued.
Maher then joked about how at next week’s State of the Union, Biden should finally accept his age and appear using a walker.
This is not the first time Maher has urged Biden and his team to confront the realities of the Biden era.
Earlier this season, he called Biden ‘Ruth Bader Biden’ comparing him to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Ginsburg famously decided not to resign while President Obama was in the White House, allowing then-President Trump to name a Republican replacement after her death in 2020.
Biden’s age and mental acuity appear to be proving to be a problematic issue as the election approaches and most Americans, including Democrats, believe he is too old to run for president again.
Biden’s long-standing reputation for gaffes and embarrassing misstatements (in 2018 he even described himself as a “gaffe machine”) has benefited him in some ways so far, allowing his team to explain mistakes like his folksy, goofy Uncle Joe charm.
But the dramatic increase in the frequency of his verbal stumbles is causing alarm. And it has also been accompanied by evidence of physical frailty.
Since 2021, he has reportedly tripped eight times while climbing the stairs of Air Force One, the presidential plane, including three times on a single flight to Atlanta.
In 2022 he fell from a bicycle after getting caught in its pedals; in 2023 he stumbled down some small stairs at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan; Later that year, he tripped on a sandbag and fell on stage at an Air Force academy graduation ceremony.
And when the stairs on Air Force One were shortened last year so he could enter the plane at a lower level, Biden tripped on them, too.
When he was vice-president, he tripped while walking on stage to deliver a speech at Paddington Town Hall in Sydney in July 2016.
In September 2022 he he seemed to get lost as he walked off stage after his remarks at the Global Fund Conference.
As the applause continued, the President of the United States began to walk off the stage before stopping abruptly and looking around with a look of confusion on his face.
He then appeared to ask people on the floor how to get off stage and took a few stuttering steps.
Sleepy Joe, as Trump nicknamed him, is already easily the oldest person to become president in American history.
If he wins the White House, he would be 82 years old at the start of his second term in January 2025 (if Trump wins, he would be 78 years old).
Biden’s latest gaffes only serve to add fuel to the fire of those calling for him to be dumped, as a new poll suggests Democrats would perform better in the upcoming presidential election without him.