Age and health concerns about Joe Biden

Joe Biden was 78 years and 2 months old when he took office as president of the United States on January 20, 2021. At the time, he was the oldest person ever inaugurated as president. Biden is the first president to turn 80 years of age while in office.
Before and during Biden's 2024 bid for re-election, there was concern from the public, from 2024 Democratic Party presidential primary challengers, and from then-former President Donald Trump about Biden's health and fitness for office. In a February 2024 report, prosecutor Robert Hur opined that Biden's memory had "significant limitations"; the White House dismissed the report as a "partisan hit job". Concerns about Biden's age and health intensified after a poor performance by Biden during his June 2024 presidential debate against Trump, leading a number of commentators and some Democratic lawmakers to call for Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race. After initially stating that he would remain in the race, Biden ended his presidential candidacy on July 21, 2024; he later endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination. Biden continued to serve as president until the conclusion of his term on January 20, 2025. At that time, Biden was 82 years and 2 months old, making him the oldest sitting president in United States history.
In February 1988, after experiencing numerous episodes of increasingly severe neck pain, Biden underwent surgery to correct a leaking intracranial berry aneurysm. While recuperating, he suffered a pulmonary embolism, a serious complication. After a second aneurysm was surgically repaired in May, Biden's recuperation kept him away from the Senate for seven months.
In 2018, when Biden was considering running for president, he consulted with friends, aides, and longtime supporters as to whether he was too old to seek the presidency. By 2019, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico, CNN, The Atlantic, the Associated Press, and Slate all published articles on Biden's age and fitness for office. That year, in advance of the 2020 United States presidential election, many of his Democratic opponents used his age against Biden, who was 76 at the time. Biden supporters criticized this as ageist discrimination. According to ABC News, Vladimir Putin and the Russian government spread disinformation about Biden's mental health during the 2020 presidential election, and the Department of Homeland Security withheld publication of a bulletin warning law enforcement agencies about this campaign. During and prior to his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden was followed by rumors that he had undergone plastic surgery to appear younger. Olivia Nuzzi reported in 2019 that Biden's alleged cosmetic procedures were "a minor obsession" of the Trump White House.
In April 2019, Joe Biden announced his entry into the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Throughout the primaries, other Democratic candidates, primary voters, and journalists raised concerns surrounding Biden's age and mental acuity, viewing the issues as a potential detriment to his electability. At the time of his announcement, Biden was 76 years of age. Some of the age-related concerns were easily dismissed as his main opponent for the nomination, Bernie Sanders, was 77 years of age, making him older than Biden. Nevertheless, Biden faced age-based criticisms due to lackluster debate performances and frequent gaffes. In a September 2019 debate, Julian Castro accused Biden of forgetting something he had said a few minutes earlier.
At a March 2, 2020 campaign event, Biden unsuccessfully attempted to quote from the Declaration of Independence, saying, "'We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created by — you know, you know, the thing'". At other points during his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden mistakenly stated that he was running for U.S. Senate.
During the general election campaign, Biden again faced age and acuity-related criticisms and was consistently attacked by his Republican opponent, Donald Trump, on those issues. Biden was also criticized for limiting his public appearances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Trump often times accusing him of "hiding in the basement". Furthermore, Trump and his campaign would often react to Biden's gaffes by making unproven claims that he was suffering from dementia and by calling him "Sleepy Joe" at rallies.
During Biden's presidency, Trump and right-wing media outlets continued to make claims of dementia and cognitive decline regarding Biden. The Biden administration routinely aimed to make light of the president's age by poking fun and joking about it in a manner similar to the way Ronald Reagan responded to age-related concerns. When used by the Biden administration, this approach was met with both praise and mockery. The Biden administration was criticized for allegedly gaslighting or harassing journalists who asked questions about Biden's health or age.
Various events occurring during Biden's presidency highlighted concerns regarding his age and health, as did a February 2024 report in which special prosecutor Robert Hur asserted that Biden's memory was deficient. Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips unsuccessfully challenged Biden in the 2024 presidential primaries, citing age-related issues. Concerns about Biden's age and health came to a head following his struggles in a June 2024 debate against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. After that debate, a number of commentators and some Democratic lawmakers called for Biden to drop out of the presidential race. Biden initially insisted he would continue his presidential bid. On July 21, 2024, however, Biden ended his presidential candidacy.
On March 19, 2021, Biden stumbled three times as he walked up the stairs to enter Air Force One. A spokesperson for the White House attributed the President's stumbles to windy weather.
Biden appeared to fall asleep at a November 2021 climate change summit, leading to questions about his fitness for the presidency. Video of the incident went viral.
In November 2021, Politico reported on a recent poll showing that voters had "increasing doubts about the health and mental fitness of President Joe Biden". The poll showed that 48% of voters disagreed with the assertion that Biden was mentally fit. The report noted that voters' perceptions of Biden's physical and mental health had shifted dramatically since late 2020.
At the 2022 White House Easter Egg Roll, Biden was directed away from the media by a White House staffer dressed as the Easter Bunny. Video of the Easter Bunny incident went viral; it was viewed more than five million times. "'Why is the Easter Bunny directing the President of the United States?' Republican senator Josh Hawley’s press secretary Abigail Marone tweeted".
Biden fell off his bicycle near his Delaware beach house on June 18, 2022.
In the summer of 2022, a New York Times–Siena College poll found that 61% of Democratic voters wanted someone other than Biden to be the 2024 presidential nominee, citing his age as the main concern. Biden's aides dismissed age-related concerns as politically motivated attacks by Republicans.
As early as 2022, Democratic political consultant James Carville, liberal commentator Ezra Klein, and The Economist opined that Biden should not seek re-election.
At a July 2022 event, Biden read instructions from his teleprompter aloud. He said, "'It is noteworthy that the percentage of women who register to vote and cast a ballot is consistently higher than the percentage of the men who do so—end of quote, repeat the line. Women are not without electoral and, or, political—let me be precise: not and, or—or political power'".
On July 28, 2022, U.S. Representative Dean Phillips became the first incumbent Democratic member of Congress to say that Biden should not run for re-election. Phillips called for "generational change," citing Biden's age.
While speaking at a September 28, 2022 event, Biden asked whether Rep. Jackie Walorski was in attendance. Walorski had died in a car accident the previous month. The incident raised questions about Biden's mental fitness.
In 2023, Democratic National Committee officials reportedly staged “hush-hush talks” to plan for contingencies in the event of Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race.
On April 25, 2023, Biden announced that he would seek re-election to the presidency in 2024.
Biden tripped and fell onstage at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation on June 1, 2023.
Biden left listeners confused when he ended a June 2023 speech to gun control advocates in Connecticut by saying, "'God save the Queen, man'". Queen Elizabeth II of England had died the previous September. White House staff stated that Biden was responding to a person in the crowd.
At a September 2023 press conference in Vietnam, Biden said, "'I don’t know about you, but I’m going to go to bed'". Moments later, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre interrupted a rambling Biden and declared that the press conference was over. The incident raised questions about Biden's fitness.
A September 2023 CNN poll showed that "more than half (56 percent) of Democrats — and nearly three-quarters of Americans (73 percent) said they were seriously concerned for Biden's physical and mental competence".
Biden told the same story twice at a September 2023 fundraiser, raising questions about his mental capacity.
On October 27, 2023, Rep. Dean Phillips formally launched his 2024 presidential campaign. Phillips campaigned as a younger alternative to Biden who would be a stronger opponent to run against Trump. Phillips argued during his campaign that President Biden would be a weak general election candidate due to his age and low approval ratings. In public, Phillips was ridiculed. In private, others in the Democratic Party shared his concerns.
In an October 2023 interview, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked whether he believed Biden was experiencing cognitive decline. Johnson answered, "'I do, I think most of us do. That's reality. It's not a personal slight to him, it has to do with age and acumen, and everyone's different. Everyone ages differently. Clearly, if you look at a tape of Joe Biden making an argument in the Senate Judiciary Committee a few years ago, and you see a speech that he delivers now, there's a difference'".
On his 81st birthday (November 20, 2023), Biden posted an image of a birthday cake with dozens of candles and a caption joking that it was his "146th birthday". The photo brought to the surface concerns among the public about Biden's age according to a majority of those polled at the time.
In January 2024, Dr. Jay Olshansky gave Biden a nearly 75% chance of living through a second term based on publicly available information about his health.
On January 18, 2024, Politico published an interview with Democratic Party presidential primary challenger Jason Palmer in which he called on Biden and all older lawmakers to "pass the torch" to a younger generation of political leaders.
In a January 2024 interview, Dean Phillips told Axios that he thought it would be "impossible" for Biden to be president for four more years, and that "at that stage of life, it is impossible ultimately to conduct, to prosecute the office of the American presidency in the way that this country in the world needs right now." On January 23, 2024, Phillips won 19.6% of the vote in the 2024 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary.
On January 29, 2024, The Hill published a report bearing the headline, "Watch: Biden mumbles incoherently during speech at brewery, 74% say Joe is too old".
In late January or early February 2024, Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, received a call from a Democratic senator wherein the senator reportedly said, "You do realise, off the record, that Joe Biden is not going to be our nominee? I just was at a meeting with him with several other senators and he couldn't even function. We can't run him".
Upon concluding an investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents, special counsel Robert Hur suggested that Biden would be able to present himself to a jury as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory". Hur added that Biden's memory "appeared to have significant limitations". White House lawyers disputed this characterization, in addition, Vice President Kamala Harris said that the report was "'politically motivated'". Biden rejected the claim in a televised press conference on the day the special counsel's report was released; during the conference, he referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as the president of Mexico.
At the time, liberal commentators and Democratic officials accused Hur of partisanship and of including unnecessary detail in his report. Dean Phillips asserted that the report “simply affirms what most Americans already know and all but handed the 2024 election to Donald Trump” if Biden were to become the Democratic presidential nominee. Senator Rick Scott called for Biden to be removed from the presidency via the 25th Amendment after the special counsel described Biden’s memory in their report. He argued that the report "does not describe someone who should be the Commander in Chief of our armed forces and the defender of American freedoms". The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee and House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas for the full audio recordings of Biden's interviews with Robert Hur. A transcript had already been released to the committees. The White House withheld the recordings, accusing the Republicans of wishing to distort the audio for political gain.
According to a February 2024 poll, Biden's age and health were major or moderate concerns for 86% of voters, up from 76% in 2020.
Biden's 2024 annual physical examination showed that he was in good health for a man of his age. Biden was on medication for non-valvular atrial fibrillation (a form of irregular heartbeat), was treated with positive airway pressure for obstructive sleep apnea, had a sensory peripheral neuropathy, and had a stiff gait due to spinal arthritis and the aftereffects of injury.
According to another 2024 poll, most of those who voted for Biden in 2020 said they believed he was too old to be an effective president; The New York Times noted that these concerns "cut across generations, gender, race and education".
Dean Phillips announced that he was dropping out of the presidential race on March 6, 2024. On March 12, 2024, Biden amassed enough convention delegates to become the presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee.
In a June 2024 interview, Biden "raised concerns about his age", confusing Russian President Vladimir Putin with Chinese President Xi Jinping and making several comments "that Time described as 'unintelligible' in the interview transcript".
On June 27, 2024, Biden took part in a presidential debate against Donald Trump. The debate reinforced concerns about Biden's age, with Biden appearing confused and disoriented during its first half and giving meandering answers to questions.
Politico described Biden's performance as follows:
Reporter Reid Epstein of The New York Times wondered whether voters would see Biden as someone physically able to run the country, even if they preferred his policies to Trump's. Some Democrats opined that he should end his campaign. Politico's article on the debate was entitled, "Dems freak out over Biden’s debate performance: 'Biden is toast'".
On June 28, 2024, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said that "President Joe Biden’s Cabinet should discuss invoking the 25th Amendment in the wake of a politically disastrous debate that compounded age and acuity questions." Congressmen Clay Higgins (R-La.) and Chip Roy (R-Tx.) also filed a resolution after the debate that asked Vice President Kamala Harris to immediately invoke her power under the 25th Amendment to convene the executive Cabinet and declare Biden as unfit to carry out his duty as Commander-in-Chief.
At a June 29, 2024 reception hosted by Phil Murphy, then governor of New Jersey, Biden reportedly needed to have fluorescent tape fixed to the carpet, “colorful bread crumbs that showed the leader of the free world where to walk”.
In a July 4 report, the Associated Press stated that Biden "is often sharp and focused. But he also has moments, particularly later in the evening, when his thoughts seem jumbled and he trails off mid-sentence or seems confused".
Biden was interviewed by George Stephanapoulos on July 5, 2024. In the interview, he stated that he intended to stay in the 2024 presidential race. According to Politico, "Members of Congress and top Democratic operatives" said that "the president was more energetic and forceful than he was on stage during last week's showdown with Donald Trump — but it likely won’t be enough to tame the panic" concerning his campaign.
On July 8, 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported Biden's team had limited his schedule, personal interactions, media appearances, interviews, and unscripted exchanges in order to minimize concerns about his age and mental acuity. According to Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal report stated that Biden "was having 'good and bad days' as far back as 2021".
Many officials and foreign leaders who encountered Biden in the months to year preceding the debate stated that he had been increasingly frail, tired, meandering, and confused in his speech. In many parts of Europe, this led to concern about a second Trump presidency. Biden declined to undergo a cognitive exam such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, saying that he had "a cognitive test every single day" in performing his presidential duties. It later emerged that a neurologist specializing in Parkinson's disease had met this year with Physician to the President Kevin O'Connor; O'Connor and the White House both said Biden was not being treated for the disease and that other officials use O'Connor as their physician.
At the July 2024 NATO summit, Biden mistakenly introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "'President Putin'". He then corrected himself. (Vladimir Putin is the president of Russia, with whom Ukraine was at war at the time.) Later at the same event, Biden confused his running mate with his opponent. When asked a question regarding Vice President Kamala Harris, he responded, "'Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president [if I didn’t] think she was not qualified to be president'".
On July 12, 2024, USA Today reported the following regarding Biden: "'His walk is now a slow, stiff gait. His voice is softer, harder to hear. He has always spoken in tortured syntax, but his words now run together with alarming frequency. Thoughts repeatedly abandon him midsentence. President Joe Biden's advanced age and mental acuity – once a punchline for Republicans and late-night comics – are now at the center of a growing political crisis that has upended his reelection bid, threatening to bring his five-decade career to an abrupt close'".
Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on July 17, 2024. He experienced mild symptoms, including a cough, runny nose, and "general malaise". Images of Biden looking frail exiting from Air Force One on the way to isolation fuelled further speculation on Biden's health.
On July 21, 2024, Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, for the Democratic presidential nomination. More than 30 senior Democrats had called on him to withdraw two days before he announced his decision.
On August 20, 2024, the Washington Post editorial board published an op-ed stating that President Biden's inner circle had "worked to conceal his decline".
After formally securing the Democratic nomination, Harris went on to lose the general election to Trump. Following Trump's victory, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett, who was the first sitting Democrat in Congress to openly call for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 United States presidential election after the first presidential debate, stated that "I only regret I didn't do it earlier ... I believe that the only person in our caucus who doesn't share some responsibility for the outcome is Dean Phillips, who came out early."
On December 19, 2024, former CNN political commentator Chris Cilizza issued an apology about his Joe Biden coverage, stating, "I didn't push hard enough for information about his mental and physical decline in the moment. And I should have." Also on December 19, 2024, The Wall Street Journal released a detailed report on "How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge".
In December 2024, Mother Jones, Politico, and The New York Times applauded Dean Phillips for having raised concerns about Biden's age and health.
On January 17, 2025, The New York Times reported that President Biden was "faltering" and "shaky", and had been protected by his inner circle.
Amie Parnes, co-author of Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House (2025), indicated that Biden's inner circle--including First Lady Jill Biden, Mike Donilon, and Steve Ricchetti--bore the most responsibility for concealing Biden's decline from the public. Parnes added that by the time his term ended, Biden was "a shell of himself".