Biden launches new ad after SOTU address, says 'Look I'm not a young guy.'
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is taking on concerns about his age head-on in a new ad by highlighting his experience in office and bashing his predecessor in the process.
“Look I’m not a young guy,” Biden, 81, says in the ad released Saturday. “That’s no secret. But here’s the deal. I understand how to get things done for the American people.”
He then touts his achievements in healthcare policy, the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and combating climate change, and argues former President Donald Trump “took away the freedom of women to choose” and failed to pass an infrastructure law during his time in office.
At the end of the ad, when the cameraman calls for another take, Biden says, “Look I’m very young, energetic and handsome. What the hell am I doing this for?”
Poll after poll has shown that voters have reservations about Biden's age as he seeks another term in office. An ABC News/Ipsos poll published February found a startling 86% of Americans believe Biden is too old to serve another term.
In response to the ad, the Trump team shared a video featuring various out of context clips of Biden struggling to walk up the stairs, falling down and at times, his blank facial expressions.
The president's health has also been in the spotlight after a report from special counsel Robert Hur described him as a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”
At his State of the Union address Thursday, however, Biden said that though he has been told he is too young and too old in his career, he's always known what endures - the North Star.
"The very idea of America is that we’re all created equal, deserves to be treated equally throughout our lives," he said. "We’ve never fully lived up to that idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either. And I won’t walk away from it now."
The ad is part of a $30 million ad buy that his re-election campaign launched as Biden embarks on a battleground state tour.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden launches new ad taking concerns about his age head on