White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre went on CNN to give a sit-down interview in place of President Joe Biden.
Jean-Pierre was caught flat-footed by CNN host Jake Tapper and his question about a new poll, and the reality of voter concerns on Biden’s age.
Between Aug. 10 and 14, pollsters at the left-leaning AP-NORC surveyed a representative sample of 1,165 adults, estimating a 3.8% margin of error.
In the poll, 77% of U.S. adults said Biden is too old to be effective for four more years. Not only do 89% of Republicans say that, so do 69% of Democrats.
In contrast, only 51% of U.S. adults say Trump is too old for the office, and here the familiar partisan divide emerges, and only 28 % of Republicans consider their frontrunner to be too old.
Tapper cited the poll to ask Jean-Pierre about the public perception of Biden.
“Republicans generally don’t think of Trump’s age as an issue, but both Democrats and Republicans agree that Biden is too old,” Tapper observed. “Is the White House worried that questions about President Biden’s stamina could ultimately impact whether or not voters will be able to support him for a second term?”
Jean-Pierre dodged the question, and tried to change the subject to Medicare.
“Going to be careful about 2024, I can’t speak to that directly,” Jean-Pierre said, citing the Hatch Act. “I’m happy to talk, but I get asked that question a lot. Here’s the thing, you know. What this president brings to this administration is wisdom and experience, and that is just true — as senator, as vice president, and now as president. And we just talked about — I appreciate the conversation that we had on Medicare.”
Tapper responded, “OK. So you’re part of the 23 percent of adults who are not concerned about the president’s ability to be president because of his age and stamina.”
Jean-Pierre tried to laugh it off.
“People have come after the president about his age. They did it in 2019. They did it in 2020, leading into the general election, and they did it in 2022. And guess what? He beats them every time, because he has his finger on the pulse of what it is that the American people need,” Jean-Pierre said. “The thing that the president is able to do is deliver, really move forward with historic pieces of legislation, change the lives of Americans for generations to come — and that is what we focus on, the president’s record and what he is able to do.”
Tapper pushed Jean-Pierre to stop changing the subject.
“I’m talking about his age and stamina and his ability to do the job, and you’re talking about the record,” Tapper said. “I understand that you’d rather talk about the record. But I’m talking about what Americans see when they turn on the T.V., and they see Joe Biden has been in politics literally since before you were born, and he’s aged as we all do.”
Jean-Pierre repeated a canned line.
“Look. The president says this all the time. Watch him,” Jean-Pierre said. “When we travel abroad, it is hard for us to keep up with this president.”
Biden himself used that same line during last year’s interview with 60 Minutes. When asked how to address concerns about his age, he said, “Watch me.”
Tapper remained unconvinced.
“They are watching him,” Tapper said. “That’s what I’m saying.”
Watch the interaction here —
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.