“Morning Joe” wants President Joe Biden to use Eminem’s “8 Mile” strategy when it comes to questions about his age on the 2024 campaign trail.
Biden will be 81 going on 82 during the election cycle, and concerns about his age, stamina and mental acumen are already dogging the sitting president. MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” played a clip Wednesday of Democratic voters discussing the issue in a focus group, then threw to journalist and contributor Mike Barnicle, who said Biden should just get ahead of it with humor – like Marshall Mathers did during the final rap battle of the 2002 film “8 Mile,” when he riffed on his flaws before anyone had a chance to use them against him.
“I think the plan is, for the president and his campaign, is to more or less own his age, own the fact that he’s [80],” Barnicle said. “Own the fact that he doesn’t run as fast as he used to. He doesn’t look as agile as he used to because of his age. He has a troubled foot that makes his walk look … worse than it is.”
Barnicle said Biden has enough of his own record to make the case that he deserves a second term, and can simply use jokes and cheeky references to defang those who would focus on his advanced age.
“But given his age, and his vast experience in government, given his knowledge of the presidency, given the record that he has achieved, which arguably is better than Barack Obama’s first term, I think that’s what he has to campaign on,” Barnicle said. “Own your age! Say things like ”Hey, when Washington crossed the Delaware, I was there to help pull those boats in. That’s how old I am!’”
However, Barnicle seemed to think that when talking about himself, Biden could use a little bit of editing for length – then proceeded to suggest a longer laundry list than we’re used to hearing.
“If he ends up doing it properly, from script, from his birth in Scranton, Pennsylvania, telling his life story, and a shorter version, a briefer version than he’s used to telling it, he can then say ‘I am you. I am the American citizen that you are. I have owned homes that I couldn’t afford. I have maybe almost had cars repossessed. I’ve put kids through school. I’ve carried the weight of an addicted child. I’ve lost some children. I’ve lost two children. I know the pain that you feel on a daily basis. I’m Joe Biden.”
“Morning Joe” Mika Brzezinski couldn’t have disagreed less.
“Exactly! I can’t agree more, and that focus group really reflected a conversation we might have had across a dinner table,” she said. “Or you hear across the country. People really care about him, he’s doing a great job, and he’s going to be 82 when he’s running.”
Watch the exchange in the video above.
