At age 80, Joe Biden is the oldest sitting U.S. president, and he would be 86 by the end of his second term if he ran and won. Is he too old to run for reelection?
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, founder and CEO of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, and Mark Leibovich, staff writer at The Atlantic, debated the topic on Greater Boston.
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Leibovich said Biden should not run due to his age, but ultimately, voters should decide. He noted that there are age limits for many important jobs such as pilots and air traffic controllers and that could be an option for presidents, too.
"I would prefer someone younger and I would hope, I would think, the Democrats would be better served to have a bunch of younger options," Leibovich said.
Sonnenfeld said several politicans and historical figures, from Benjamin Franklin to Nancy Pelosi, performed at very high levels in their 70s and 80s and there's no reason Biden can't do the same.
"We shouldn't fall into this ageism, there's really no justification for it — if anything we should retire the bias around age," Sonnenfeld said.
Biden has not yet made any formal announcements about a 2024 run.
