Kamala Harris rejects claims that Biden, 80, is too old to run

Vice President Kamala Harris argued on Wednesday that Joe Biden is not too old to be president and said she will stand by his side if he runs again — despite the criticism she has received from Democrats over her lack of accomplishments in the White House.

“I think age is more than a chronological fact,” Harris told ABC’s Good Morning America of the 80-year-old commander in chief.

And she pushed back at her own critics, saying clearly she will continue to be Biden’s running mate.

“The president has said he intends to run and if he does, I will join him,” she told CBS Mornings. “I take the job very seriously and am honored to serve.”

Harris took to the morning shows to defend Biden after many Republicans criticized his claims in his speech about the border, the drug crisis, and his comments about Medicare and Social Security. The night turned controversial with Republicans shouting and calling Biden a “liar” as the president backed down and engaged in verbal battles with the GOP.

But the vice president herself has faced a new round of critics, those who question her accomplishments in government and claim she’s not an effective advocate for the president — which is a key role for the vice president. .

She shrugged and told CBS, “I appreciate it, thanks. I’m doing pretty well, thanks for asking.’

Biden has not officially announced that he is running for a second term, but all indications point in that direction.

He leaves on Wednesday for a traditional post-State of the Union tour, in which presidents take to the country to sell their vision of the country’s future.

The stops for him and his surrogates are all key states in the next presidential election: Biden is in Wisconsin on Wednesday and Florida on Thursday; Harris will be in Georgia on Wednesday and Jill Biden in Arizona on Sunday.

The president’s public approval rating was 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Sunday, close to the lowest level of his presidency.

That could be a possible obstacle to a possible re-election.

And his age remains a concern. At 80 years old, he is the oldest president in history.

If he wins a second term, he would be 82 at his second inauguration and 86 at the end of his term.

The wave of travel will test Biden’s stamina. He will be traveling a lot more after spending most of the 2020 campaign on Zoom events from his home in Wilmington, Delaware, due to the COVID pandemic.

The president is due for his annual physical next week, but the White House doctor declared him healthy after last year’s.

Some Democrats question whether Vice President Kamala Harris has been an effective advocate for President Joe Biden

Republicans are expected to make his age a major issue in the election. And much of their fire in 2024 is expected to be focused on 58-year-old Harris and her suitability to take over if something happens to Biden.

Even some Democrats fear she will be a hindrance.

“That, I think, will be one of the most persistent arguments against Biden,” John Morgan, a prominent Democrat fundraiser, recently told the New York Times.

“It doesn’t take a genius to say, ‘Look, at his age, we really need to think about this.'”

Her track record, he added, was no help.

“I can’t think of anything she’s done except stay out of the way and stand next to him at certain ceremonies,” he said.

Biden gave Harris a laundry list of tasks to tackle, including migrating the root causes of migration. She has struggled with those roles, but her supporters say they were tough issues that would challenge any politician.

But Harris has had missteps of her own, including an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt where she made a mess of it explaining the government’s plan to secure the border.

She was more successful in spearheading the government’s response to securing reproductive rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.