Michael Douglas defends Biden mental acuity: ‘Sharp as a tack’
Michael Douglas is defending President Biden against critics who argue he’s too old to serve, saying the commander in chief appears to be “sharp as a tack.”
Biden, 81, is the oldest president to run for office.
A February ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 59 percent of Americans surveyed believe both Biden and 77-year-old former President Trump are too old for another term in the White House.
“We all have an issue with memories as we get older. We forget names,” the 79-year-old Academy Award winner said Sunday on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” when asked about Biden’s age.
“He’s overcome a stutter in his life, and sometimes he might,” the “Wall Street” star said.
Douglas said “everybody” in Biden’s orbit who he’s consulted with says the president is “fine.”
“His entire Cabinet, including his vice president, everybody that’s in his Cabinet would be more than happy to work with him again on a next term,” Douglas said, before knocking Trump, without mentioning the former president by name.
“I cannot say that about the other candidate running because nobody in his Cabinet from 2016 wants to be involved with him.”
Dozens of former Cabinet officials under Trump have declined to publicly support his reelection bid. Former Vice President Mike Pence said in March that he wouldn’t endorse his ex-boss ahead of this November’s presidential election.
Calling this year “probably the most important election of my lifetime,” Douglas said, “We need somebody in control, in power, who has some experience and knows how to work on a global situation.”
“You can’t ask for one side for us to be active globally, but then internally say we’re just gonna isolate. It doesn’t work that way anymore,” Douglas, who plays Benjamin Franklin in Apple TV+’s miniseries “Franklin” told Zakaria.
“I think this is a year also for us to really remind ourselves about local elections,” Douglas said.
“I think if we’re going to kind of adjust, we have to start from the bottom up, not the top down. And so I think all of us who vote for presidency should be actively involved in our local elections, too.”
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