During an appearance at the Gridiron Club Dinner on Saturday, President Joe Biden slammed his expected 2024 election opponent by claiming he was “too old.”
Biden has been quick to show that he isn’t mentally unfit for office after months of criticism from Republicans and a special counsel report that described him as an elderly man with a “poor memory.”
While speaking on Saturday, Biden brought attention to the age concern again, but this time turning it back on his Republican competitor.
“One candidate is too old, mentally unfit to be president. The other’s me,” Biden, 81, joked.
Still, despite attempts to calm voters’ nerves about his age, 86% of voters think he is too old for another term, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll from last month.
During his third State of the Union address, Biden appeared more animated than usual, addressing several topics voters view as big issues this election, including the border, immigration, and the economy.
After the speech, Biden shared that he felt it was a success and that others would agree, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Even the press has to admit, I crushed it,” Biden said. “The expectations were so low, I just had to show up and remember who the president is.”
During his 10-minute speech on Saturday, Biden took several other shots at Republicans, including one about their impeachment efforts, saying they would rather “fail at impeachment than succeed at anything else.”
“Republicans were going to do a skit tonight,” Biden went on, the Wall Street Journal reported. “But they couldn’t get a speaker.”
Even Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis caught a stray from the president, who made a height joke about the Republican.
“We’re committed to helping the little guy,” Biden jabbed, according to the Daily Mail, “Ron DeSantis, but he won’t take our calls.”
Biden did close on a more serious note, addressing that this next election was serious for the future of the country.
“We live in an unprecedented moment of democracy — an unprecedented moment in history. Democracy and freedom are literally under attack. Putin’s on the march in Europe. My predecessor bows down to him and says, ‘Do whatever the hell you want,’” Biden warned.