I am tired of hearing about President Biden’s age from the media pundits. It is not going to change that he is still the incumbent and still the best opponent against the Republican alternative. The ageist, insulting focus on Biden’s age is undermining confidence in the president, who should be lauded for what he has accomplished or managed to pull off, thanks to his experience, his reputation, and his values.
He came into office during a global pandemic that former president Donald Trump had made worse by poisoning public health efforts. There was a near economic collapse worldwide. Biden had to bring European leaders together again after Trump’s disruptive actions with NATO, and the current president has ably confronted Russia’s monstrous war in Ukraine.
The media’s focus on Trump in 2016 — the free coverage they gave him — helped him get elected and helped create the public menace that he became.
Are the media going to do it again for Trump in 2024? Why aren’t they doing more to question his age and his lack of control over what comes out of his mouth? A man who cannot string two cogent sentences together, he can only spew invectives, threats, untruths, and fantastical conspiracies. Much of the media continue to treat it as par for the course, and yet they get quite exercised over questions of whether Biden is up to the job.
It is time for media forces to stop driving this drumbeat of negativity. Think what the alternative could be, indeed take an even harder look at that alternative, and get on with reporting important facts and events.
Susan Rothstein
Brookline