CNN‘s Don Lemon justified asking White House Press Secretary Karine Jeanne-Pierre if President Biden is “mentally fit” to run in 2024 when he appeared on “New Day” Wednesday.
“His answers are not succinct,” Lemon said after recalling Biden’s recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel.
“We interview the President, we watch him in press conferences, we watch him do interviews,” Lemon remarked. “Frankly, I had trouble following him.” The anchor added, “he has trouble sometimes connecting and his answers sometimes don’t make sense.”
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Lemon made the point that the presidency is a “really, really tough job.” He continued, “I’m sure he’s up to the job, but it is my job as a journalist to ask.”
Lemon, who typically speaks favorably of the Biden Administration, called Biden a “nice man,” but expressed concern that the President is in his 80s citing that Lemon himself doesn’t feel as sharp as he used to while only being in his 50s.
The CNN host also advocated for younger people being involved in politics, and he even brought up former President Trump’s age too.
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“And so I think we need to really think about that. Younger people being more involved in the political process, younger people, of course, can be involved in the political process. But we need to think about at a certain time in one’s life, perhaps they should think about that, and that includes Donald Trump as well, who is not far behind the current president of the United States,” Lemon said.
Lemon’s interview with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took place as a result of a recent story published in the New York Times claiming that many top Democrats are frustrated and concerned about Biden’s performance in office and chances in 2024.
Reports also show that 45 of the 50 Democrats in the Senate declined to answer when asked if they would support Biden running again.
Additionally, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently refused to tell CNN’s Dana Bash whether she would endorse Biden in 2024, laughing she said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”