Biden's age takes centre stage amid struggling presidential campaign

"We are not going to win in November with this president," wrote actor George Clooney, in a strongly worded op-ed in the New York Times days after US President Joe Biden's historically weak debate performance.

Coming from a longtime close friend and major donor, Clooney's piece seemed to hit harder than video clips shared by Biden's opposition and right-wing media in recent months, showing the president as slow and frail.

Clooney wrote that "the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe 'big F-ing deal' Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate."

As the Democratic Party tries to navigate this crisis that won't go away, blame is being levelled at Biden's inner circle. Some are openly questioning how the president's diminished energy level could have been hidden for so long. 

It is a question that becomes easier to ask in hindsight, but one that is more difficult when it is about a president who successfully won the last election and who has been public about his lifelong struggle with a stutter, a story of resilience that seemed to resonate with many voters when he ran in 2020.

These days, many find it difficult to excuse away Biden's physical stiffness and verbal mistakes as mere gaffes, even if there might be legitimate reasons for these moments. The perception of Biden, who at 81 is the oldest person to serve as US president, has been growing for some time, culminating in an unforgettably poor debate performance.

"He's getting older. There's nothing you can do about it. The perception, unfortunately, is reality," Richard Groper, a lecturer in political science at California State University in Los Angeles, told The New Arab.

He noted that even if Biden is in good health, as he says he is, his performance at the debate has put him under a stark spotlight where his every move will now be watched with meticulous scrutiny. "The problem is he's under a microscope, and we're just waiting for him to screw up," said Groper.

Amid non-stop discussions about Biden's age and therefore his ability to serve another four years, many are asking why his opponent, former President Donald Trump, isn't seeing similar scrutiny, given his litany of false statements and criminal charges.

"Trump is old too, but we're talking about Biden," said Groper, adding that even as Trump continues to make constant inaccurate statements, he does so with energy, something that Biden often lacks.

Though some have pointed out that other US politicians are even older than Biden and not facing similar scrutiny about their ages, such as Representative Nancy Pelosi, 84, and Senator Bernie Sanders, 82, the fact is they are not currently running for US president, an exhausting endeavour that takes a major toll on anyone.

Over the past several weeks, what many people are seeing in Biden is what they see in older relatives — a stubborn resistance to facing their diminished capacity, what many have described as having to take away the car keys from an ailing grandfather.

"In 2020, he was an older guy, but still a competent politician. Things aren't what they used to be," Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, told TNA. "That debate was so painfully obvious."