CHARLOTTE, N.C (TNS) — President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is launching a new television ad poking fun at his age, part of a $30 million battleground state advertising buy following the State of the Union speech.
The spot – which opens with him conceding with a grin that he’s “not a young guy” – appears as the president, 81, is seeking to assuage voter concerns over his age that have threatened his reelection campaign. A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll released last month found that more than 80% of those surveyed in key swing states are worried that Biden is too old.
“That’s no secret,” Biden continues. “But here’s the deal – I know how to get things done for the American people.”
At the end of the 60-second spot – which also features footage of Biden’s presumptive Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, struggling to flip through a binder — Biden returns to the age issue with a staged outtake.
“Look, I’m very young, energetic and handsome – what the hell am I doing this for?” he quips.
The Biden campaign says the commercial will appear during March Madness coverage on networks including ESPN and TNT, as well as Comedy Central and FX. The ad buy will target key markets in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina, and also appear on social media platforms.
The Biden team has aggressively sought to counter questions about his age in recent weeks, with the president sitting for an in-depth interview with the New Yorker that published earlier this month and scheduled to participate in an interview with MSNBC later Saturday.
During his televised address to both houses of Congress on Thursday night, Biden invoked his age to argue he was better suited than Trump to earn a second term as president. He said his decades in public service had taught him “to embrace freedom and democracy.”
“Other people my age see it differently,” he continued. “The American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution.”
President Joe Biden takes a photo with Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), middle, and Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) as he arrives to deliver the State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol on March 7, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/TNS)
