Former Democratic Rep. Susan Wild said Wednesday that she was “very concerned.” President Biden’s ability speak and project, and that the 2024 race was “unwinnable” for Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I was confident in his mental acuity. I had great concerns about his ability to project and speak. He had a lifelong speech impediment, as we know, but this was something different. And I saw it firsthand,” she told CNN. host Kasie Hunt.
“I could be as close as we are now and sometimes have difficulty understanding what he was saying. And that caused me a lot of concern, because as the president of the United States, it’s not that you speak professionally, but it’s important that I can communicate well and that it really worried me, but I wasn’t worried about his cognitive abilities,” Wild said.
President Biden conceded worried about his age and discussed his legacy in an interview with USA Today published Wednesday, but still maintained that he would have won another term if he had run against President-elect Donald Trump. But he admitted he wasn’t sure if he could have lasted another four years, saying “who knows” what a second term might have looked like.
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Former Democratic Representative Susan Wild said she is not convinced of President Biden’s ability to speak and project. (Screenshot/CNN)
Hunt asked Wild if Biden’s “candor” about the reality of his age in the interview would help Democrats.
“That line wouldn’t have helped the Democrats,” Wild said, adding, “Who knows if he could have won?”
“We can’t underestimate the fact that having a woman, a woman of color at the top of the list may or may not have helped the Democrats win the presidential election. So I’m not sure. But the age issue, the competency issue, that debate performance, those are all were huge mitigating factors against Joe Biden,” she added.
On CNN, Hunt later asked Wild, “Do you think Kamala Harris could have won the presidency? Was it a winnable race for her? Or was she unwinnable?”
Wild responded: “I don’t think it was possible to win. I think we underestimated the performance of Trump and his ability to jump.”
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In a recent interview with USA Today, President Biden acknowledged concerns about his age and discussed his legacy. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Cenet)
USA Today’s Susan Page asked Biden directly if he had the “strength” to serve another four years.
“I don’t know,” Biden said. “That’s what I thought when I first announced, talking to Barack [Obama] about that, I said I thought I was that person. I had no intention of running after him [my son] Beau died – for real, not a joke. And then when Trump ran for reelection again, I really thought I had the best chance of beating him.”
“But I also didn’t want to be president when I was 85, 86 years old. And so I talked about passing the baton,” Biden added, reflecting on concerns about his age, especially before he dropped out of the presidential race.
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Biden reprimanded reporters after an event at the White House on Sunday, saying, “I may be the oldest president, but I know more world leaders than any of you have ever met in your damn life!”
