Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell struck up a friendship during their nearly quarter-century in the Senate together. Now in their 80s, the Democratic president and the Senate GOP leader appear to be giving political cover to each other as they fend off questions about their advanced age and health issues.

Notably, McConnell, R-Ky., 81, hasn’t joined Donald Trump, 77, and other Republicans who have attacked Biden’s age, health and mental acuity as he seeks re-election.

And after McConnell’s second freeze-up last week, Biden was one of the first to call McConnell, telling reporters that his “friend” sounded like “his old self” and that such episodes are a “part of his recovery” from a fall and a concussion this year.

      • Baron Von J@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        He polled terribly in his 2016 run. His popularity improved during Trump’s presidency, especially during the impeachment hearings, but the Republicans will hammer him on his relationship with the alleged Chinese spy Christine Fang

        • PeleSpirit@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I honestly don’t care what the Republicans say, he’s a great representative and that’s what we need. Look at what they’re saying about Biden while he’s doing a pretty great job. It doesn’t matter.

          • Baron Von J@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I’m just saying it wouldn’t be a cakewalk with Swalwell. Honestly I don’t think it’s possible for any candidate to have a sweeping victory like Reagan vs Mondale anymore. The voters loyal to Trump at this point are just frothing at the mouth for a dictator. That alone should give any Democratic nominee a cakewalk victory, but we all saw how close the 2020 election was. The Republicans will use Christine Zang to whip up the MAGA base and that will be enough to make it close, at least without a double-digit surge in voter turnout. But again, if defeating the literal fascists isn’t enough to bring out the non-voters, then I can’t believe there exists a candidate who can motivate the independent and progressive non-voters to come out and vote with the liberals and centrists.

            • PeleSpirit@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Trump had private meetings with Putin and does Putin’s bidding, do you really think they’ll have a leg to stand on? A bunch of them went to celebrate the 4th of July in Russia. You keep saying her name over and over and I had to look her up. They got nothing.

              • Baron Von J@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Trump had private meetings with Putin and does Putin’s bidding, do you really think they’ll have a leg to stand on?

                No, I don’t. But that doesn’t matter to the republican voters. And that’s where I think the original assertion that the democractic party would have a cakewalk in 2024 with a candidate who is under 65 falls apart (let’s be honest, by definition a non-viable candidate can’t win, and Trump changed the definition of viable in 2016).

                You keep saying her name over and over and I had to look her up. They got nothing.

                You and I know that. But when Swalwell was seeing his approval ratings going up during Trump’s first impeachment hearing, this story is exactly what the republicans drudged up against him. And loyal republican voters will bring it up again if he runs for president again. And they’ll have no problem saying they have to vote against Swalwell because of it.

                I like Swalwell. I would vote for him in the general if he’s the nominee based on what I know right now. But I’m saying I don’t think there is any candidate who could unify the progressive, liberal, centrist, independent, and non-voters enough to make the election a cakewalk. It should have been a cakewalk in 2016, but it wasn’t. It should have been a cakewalk in 2020 but Trump actually received more votes than in 2016. He actually won the second most votes in the history of the country in 2020! And he’s out here spouting literal fascism, while actively being prosecuted for like 100 felonies, including trying to subvert our democracy (ie fascism) and he’s trouncing the other republican primary candidates! He’s polling over 50% in the primary, and the second place candidate has less than a third of that!

                The democrats could run literally Jesus, and I still think it would be a close election due him being a Jewish immigrant who hangs out with poor people and prostitutes (bunch of welfare moochers who just want free stuff and promote crime, think of the children), preaches we should sell our belongings to fund clothing, feeding, and sheltering the poor (communism!), and the whole love your neighbor thing (ie he’d probably tell Israel to chill out and be nice to the Palestinians, so that would totally ruin the Evangelicals’ plans for armageddon and the rapture).

          • cbarrick@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago
            • Bachelor’s from Georgetown.
            • Master’s from the London School of Economics.
            • Experience as an Investigative journalist in Africa and the Middle East.
            • Interned in the Senate under civil rights icon John Lewis.
            • First ever millennial Senator.
            • Progressive (by American standards).

            Definitely well qualified.

            The only downside is that he’s pretty unknown, having only been a senator since 2021.