After securing the Democratic nomination to run for South Carolina governor a little over a week ago, former congressman Joe Cunningham has come out swinging at the “geriatric oligarchy” that’s running the country at the state and federal level. That criticism includes Joe Biden who Cunningham would advise to not run for re-election in 2024.
While stopping by CNN’s New Day on Thursday morning, Cunningham defended his “geriatric oligarchy” remarks, which appear in a recent campaign video. The gubernatorial candidate argued in favor of term and age limits on politicians, and when asked directly if that applies to Biden, Cunningham responded, “Yeah, I think we need a new generation of leadership to emerge.”
Via Mediaite:
President Biden told us himself that he was just a bridge. We’re all in a car driving across the bridge and it is time to have the discussion, what is on the other side of the bridge? What does the future look like? I think we need to have a new vision, new leadership. This isn’t about personal about Biden, but he’ll be 82 by the time of the next election. If he served out a second term, he’ll be 86 years old. I’m not sure if any of us know any 86-year-olds who should be running the entire country.
Saying that your own party’s president shouldn’t run again after delivering a massive electoral victory with record turnout is certainly an interesting tactic for Cunningham to take going into his own election. However, in fairness, he’s not the first to voice this concern. Biden’s age has already popped up as a potential factor in the 2024 election. Democratic strategist David Axelrod, who was a senior adviser to Barack Obama, has said that the president’s age could be a “major issue” if he runs for a second term.
That said, Joe Biden beat Donald Trump once before, and if there is a rematch in 2024, Biden might be the only one who can do the job again.
(Via Mediaite)