Democrat strategists griped in a recent piece on the White House not doing enough to “counter the narrative” that President Joe Biden, 81, is too frail to be president for the next four years.
Democrat strategist Brad Bannon told The Hill the White House should be doing “everything they can” to push back on those concerns, “with all their might.”
“His health and age are of serious concerns to voters, and they should be doing everything they can to push back on those concerns,” Bannon said. “This is one of the things that bothers me.”
A fellow strategist told the outlet: “If you have a president who is being portrayed as old and frail, why wouldn’t you punch back and show him active?”
The strategist said the narrative will “haunt him every day of his campaign.”
“Don’t just show a hyped-up Biden during the State of the Union. Show how active he is every f‑‑‑ing day of the week,” the strategist said.
The Hill reported that the White House declined to provide the octogenarian’s workout routine.
Bannon argued that the campaign should show Biden “lifting weights, on the treadmill.”
“It mystifies me why they’re not pushing this a lot harder with pictures and videos,” he said.
Polls show that voters are concerned about Biden’s age, and a recent report from Special Counsel Bob Hur also highlighted his age, calling Biden an “elderly man with a poor memory.”
A fitness expert “who has studied fitness through a social justice context” told The Hill it is “curious” that Biden has not shared more about his exercise regimen.
“In some ways, it would be helpful for Biden to reveal more about his workout routine, since voters are clearly interested in his health, and we know that exercise is correlated to greater physical vigor and overall well-being,” Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, author of “Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America’s Exercise Obsession,” told the outlet.
Both Petrzela and Michael Messner, a sociology professor who studies gender and sports in politics, told The Hill that the Biden team could be worried that showing him as more active could backfire.
“It does occur to me that as the Biden team is trying their best to put forward an image of a vibrant and active President Biden, they must take care not to produce a [Michael] Dukakis-like image that people will poke fun at,” Messner said.
Biden is often captured on video stumbling on stairs, or in one particularly memorable moment, trying to jog off stage but then tripping on a sandbag and nearly face-planting at an Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in June.
Meanwhile, The Hill noted that Trump, 77, “often manages to appear energetic for hours, hosting rallies and talking off the cuff.”
Trump recently touted a golfing award he won, and recently showed off a slim figure in recent Easter photos.
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