David Trone wishes Joe Biden was ‘10 years younger’ as concern over prez’s age grows among Dems
Maryland Senate hopeful Rep. David Trone said the quiet part out loud last week, admitting that he wishes President Biden was about a decade younger as he seeks a second White House term.
“I wish he was 10 years younger — OK?” Trone (D-Md.) told a group of Democrats Feb. 21, per a video obtained by Politico. “Who here doesn’t? I know I do. I really do. But you know — what it is, it is. We do the best we can.”
Trone, 68, drew a mix of laughter and some nervous muttering from the event attendees with his comment.
He later downplayed the dig at Biden, 81.
“I often say I wish I was 10 years younger. I also often say Joe Biden is doing an incredible job, which is exactly what I said in the unedited version of this video,” Trone told Politico.
Biden is the oldest-ever sitting president and would be 86 at the end of a hypothetical second term in office.
Age has loomed large in the 2024 presidential election cycle. A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 86% of voters believe that the president is too old to serve another term.
That same poll also found that 62% believe former President Donald Trump would be too old to serve another term. If Trump, 77, wins and serves out a full term, he will narrowly surpass Biden as the oldest-ever US president.
Democrats have long scrambled to defend Biden from flack about his age, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently arguing that Biden’s elderly status is “why he’s been so successful.”
Trone has joked about Biden’s octogenarian status in the past.
“Joe Biden, he’s working and firing on all cylinders. Does he talk slower? Yes. Does he move like he’s older? Yes,” he said at a Democratic county club in Stevensville, per Politico.
“But I’m a CEO all my life. People who run the thing are the smart people you hire, the people around you. And getting great people in all those jobs, as many as you can — that’s how the government works, is through others.”
Trone is vying in a crowded Democratic primary for the Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Ben Cardin (D-Md.), 80. The other top contender is Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.
The winner of that contest is likely to face Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan in the deep-blue state.
Trone’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
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