As Biden ages, Trump's election tactics grow increasingly questionable.
Here we go again, videos of the US President Biden surface, highlighting his advanced age in references. These videos are utilized to criticize the campaign's emptiness. Opponent Trump, along with the Republican media, have sinked to a troubling low.
The political landscape of the United States has selected its two noteworthy presidential candidates for November: two elderly men nearing the twilight of their lives. Joe Biden, a 81-year-old Democrat in the White House, who struggles with speech, mumbles occasionally, and carries a stiff demeanor. Donald Trump, a 78-year-old former president and competition, who disregards democratic institutions and political norms, and sometimes speaks incoherently in a jumble of keywords and fragments.
These are valid statements regarding Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Manufactured speculation or jesting about physical decline is not among them. For instance, concerning the video from the G7 summit, which certain media enjoyed, only this much is accurate: If Biden were 20 years younger, or if Justin Trudeau or Emmanuel Macron had pointed towards parachute jumpers and waved, it could've been a simple mention of their casual behavior on an international stage.
However, other mechanisms have been influential in recent years: Every public appearance serves as ammunition for a pile to be scraped off and thrown against the media walls of one's own echo chambers; on television, in social media, in podcasts. If it spreads, that's good; if it filters into other echo chambers, that's a major victory. Anyone who participates in this does so at the expense of real issues and solutions. Unspoken rules and boundaries of public statements have long vanished, cultivated and encouraged by Trump and power-hungry, leadership-craving Republicans.
They are playing with the Angry, the Snarling, indeed the Hating, and they hide in the sanctuary of free speech. They are driving away the votes of those affected emotionally by market-liberal and globalizing politics. The goal is the head: Joe Biden. Republicans treat him like a defendant. The worst president ever, the corrupt Joe Biden and his criminal family, or simply the disoriented, incontinent, senile one. Trump and his MAGA crowd mimic him, mock his age, distort facts, and imply. Some media, which lean towards the Democrats, now work similarly. This new standard is not only inappropriate but also crass.
Not for the Faint-Hearted
Biden will conclude the year with a (historically measured) successful first presidency. There are no serious signs that he and his team are losing control. There are also no erratic decisions known. Biden makes public appearances almost every day, travels through world history, fulfills his duties. US presidents are surrounded by experienced advisors, ministries, and other institutions. They are not superheroes, they don't have to be. Even if this is portrayed as an ideal image.
Certainly, Biden is a seasoned man and now carries a stiff disposition. So, the question arises: How will this aged man bear another four years in the case of a victory? This can be openly discussed, after all, he is the most powerful democratically elected head of state in the world. Moreover, political maneuvering in the US is not known for its politeness, far less the campaigning. But that does not mean that one should stoop to the level of Trump and sacrifice human decency in the process.
Politics is also a discussion of ideas in the campaign, which ultimately results in a compromise, with the extremes never being satisfied, but able to tolerate it. In doubt about this process, however, it is not a carte blanche for defamation and mockery, even filthy, ethically questionable suggestions and jeers. Not only does this suggest a lack of substantial arguments. But also a willingness to engage with the issues at hand.
Read also:
In the context of the upcoming US presidential election 2024, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are prominent contenders, with their age and political styles becoming key topics in the election campaign. Biden, the 81-year-old incumbent, and Trump, the 78-year-old former president, are under scrutiny for their health and rhetoric in the USA.
During the election campaign, criticisms against Joe Biden frequently highlight his age, using videos and public appearances to accuse his campaign of being empty. Meanwhile, Trump, along with the Republican media, has intensified their tactics, using questionable methods that border on defamation.
