A new report from The New York Times revealed how President Biden tried and failed to prove his physical strength to critics by constantly questioning his age and fitness for the job.
For an article detailing what Biden and his team have done to try to minimize the public impression that he is a “wobbly” president, reporters spoke with people close to Biden who noted that the president wanted to show off his physical strength to fight with questioning his age.
“But at times, people familiar with his thinking recalled, Mr. Biden’s pride — along with the old notion that a display of physical vitality is an antidote to the anxieties of old age — could get in the way,” Friday’s report revealed.
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A new report by The New York Times has revealed how President Joe Biden has tried to display his physical prowess to the public to counter scrutiny of his age, but it often backfired. ((AP Photo/Andrew Harnik))
Biden’s longtime strategist Mike Donlon reportedly told the 2022 president, “Your biggest problem is age perception.” Biden “acknowledged concerns” but “the warnings only ignited his defiant, competitive streak,” The Times reported, suggesting that attitude fueled his decision to run for re-election in 2023, after initially suggesting he wouldn’t.
“Finally elected on his third try, Mr. Biden proposed that he would serve as interim president,” the article said. “But his pride, plus a string of legislative accomplishments and a strong showing in the 2022 midterms, has driven him to seek re-election and embark on a quixotic mission to prove his vitality.”
Biden’s pride also reportedly prompted him to try to show off his physical prowess to the public. The report continued: “Mr. Biden, who exercised most days on an exercise bike, made decisions he thought would show strength. But they sometimes had the unintended effect of emphasizing his advanced years.”
President Joe Biden falls during a graduation ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy, north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, June 1, 2023. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) (Brendan Smialowski)
The report cited several examples, the first being that Biden “refused to wear an orthopedic boot” after breaking his foot while playing with his dog just before the inauguration.
“He didn’t want to be seen as weak – a 78-year-old president with his hand on the Bible and a big, telltale device on his leg. Instead, he wore his leather brogues.”
Sources told The Times that the fracture “didn’t heal” as a result and that it contributed to the “interscholasticism that continued throughout his presidency”.
His cycling accident stemming from his desire to look fit is also mentioned.
“However, Mr. Biden wanted to prove that he was physically agile,” the report said. “He enjoyed riding his bike at his home near Rehoboth Beach, Del., but during the summer of 2022, when he stopped to talk to a group of onlookers and reporters, his feet caught on the toes of the pedals.”
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Biden fell off his bike and journalists recorded it with cameras. The video went viral and became fodder for Biden’s critics, who even turned “Mr. Biden’s downfall into a political T-shirt attack,” The Times added.
Then came “the worst calamity,” it continued, pointing to when “Mr. Biden tripped over a sandbag at the beginning of the Aviation Academy.”
“It took five seconds for Secret Service agents to help the president up, an eternity when they saw them on television.”
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
