Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) went after former President Trump for his legal woes in an interview on MSNBC Saturday. “I’ll take the individual who’s 81 over the guy who has 91 felony c…

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) went after former President Trump for his legal woes in an interview on MSNBC Saturday.

“I’ll take the individual who’s 81 over the guy who has 91 felony counts,” Swalwell said, making a reference to President Biden’s age in an interview on MSNBC’s “The Katie Phang Show” on Saturday.

“It’s not about two individuals,” Swalwell continued, speaking about the 2024 election. “It’s about the idea of competence versus chaos, or even greater, freedom versus fascism. If we make it about those ideas, and what they mean in our daily lives, we’re gonna win.”

Swalwell’s comments come after Trump was ordered to pay almost $355 million in penalties in a civil fraud case and amid increased scrutiny faced by the president on his age and memory in the wake of a special counsel report on Biden’s handling of classified documents. The report noted that Biden had problems with memory and recall.

  • GoodEye8@lemm.eeEnglish
    195·
    9 months ago

    Clearly it is because 4 years ago, when Biden was 77 the election didn’t revolve around age.

    I’m just going to throw it out that I think people are only looking at the first number and don’t care about the second one, kinda like in stores 9.99 seems much cheaper than 10.00 despite the actual difference only being a penny. It’s not a 77 year old vs an 81 year old, it’s 70 year old vs 80 year old. 70 year old is an old man, 80 year old is your demented grandpa.

    • dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      251·
      9 months ago

      There were definitely people 4 years ago trying to make the discourse about age but it didn’t really take hold.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        92·
        9 months ago

        They did the same crap for Hillary in 2016, proclaiming she was at death’s door. For some weird reason, she’s still alive despite all this rhetoric from the radicalized right wing and their Russian pals.

        • mwguy@infosec.pub
          9·
          9 months ago

          You can make the claim for anyone 65 and up truthfully. That’s the downside of running old ass candidates.

      • GoodEye8@lemm.eeEnglish
        71·
        9 months ago

        Absolutely. I think the argument was just as valid as it was 4 years ago, but now for some reason people seem to perceive it a lot more and specifically more with Biden than Trump.

        • mwguy@infosec.pub
          51·
          9 months ago

          According to actuarial tables it’s actually significantly more valid now than it was before. There’s something like a 90% chance that Biden experiences cognitive decline in the next 4 years (assuming he lives that long). And that’s not surprising since 50% of people over the age of 70 experience cognitive decline in America (and it’s higher for males).

          Ignoring it last election for both candidates was a mistake. And Biden and Trump should both in theory put out a “I’m fine but if I develop dementia during the next turn this is the plan” plan. For Biden, that will help a lot of people who are on the fence between him and nobody see him as a better candidate and turn out in higher percentages.

          Low turnout is the main thing Biden should fear. He will loose a low turnout election.

          • syllogi@kbin.social
            5·
            9 months ago

            And Biden and Trump should both in theory put out a “I’m fine but if I develop dementia during the next turn this is the plan” plan. For Biden, that will help a lot of people who are on the fence between him and nobody see him as a better candidate and turn out in higher percentages.

            I believe that’s called a running mate, and not too many people seem keen on a President Harris.

            • Tinidril@midwest.socialEnglish
              61·
              9 months ago

              My nightmare scenario since he picked her was that he would claim the 2024 nomination as an encombant, then resign after two years. We’re going to have to wait until 2036 before we get another primary, since Harris will be eligible for two full terms after finishing out Biden’s second. Democratic voters soundly rejected her in 2020, but the establishment will be forcing her on us anyways.

            • mwguy@infosec.pub
              4·
              9 months ago

              Sure but how long would he try to hold onto power? What level of decline would trigger his resignation? What things is he doing to ensure VP Harris is ready for a takeover etc…

              Just showing that he has done the planning necessary is a huge step. Nobody wants another vegetable like Dementia ridden Reagan or Stroked out Woodrow Wilson; whose stroke status led to him botching the WW1 peace process and directly contributed to WW2… Right now his (Biden’s) campaign is pretending that any sort of cognitive decline is a complete impossibly and that’s just irresponsible.

          • Tinidril@midwest.socialEnglish
            63·
            9 months ago

            He’s clearly suffering cognitive decline already. It’s not the dementia that Republicans would like to claim, but I think he would be in trouble facing a competent Republican opponent.

            • mwguy@infosec.pub
              24·
              9 months ago

              Honestly I worry it is dementia. Some days he’s clearly sharp and other days he barely knows where he is. That’s what the early stages look like.