Earlier this week, President Biden celebrated his 81st birthday. He jokingly pardoned a pair of Thanksgiving turkeys on the White House lawn. He later joked about his 146th birthday on Instagram, and on Threads he posted a photo of himself sitting with a burning cake.

He wrote to the workers at the birthday candle factory: I hope your union gives you overtime.

The fact that Biden is comfortable making so public jokes about his age is a positive turn. Embracing his status as America’s oldest president helps dodge the Republican Party’s primary attack line against him: too old, too weak.

Anyone who decides to make a joke because of their age needs a raise, according to one of his Instagram followers.

Indeed.

His critics were, unsurprisingly, in no mood to congratulate the birthday boy.

The Wall Street Journal has been obsessed with Biden’s age for years. This is despite the old age of the recently retired chairman, Rupert Murdoch, who resigned in September at the age of 92. After Murdoch retired, the Journal even raved about his stewardship in an editorial page, without any mention of his age.

The Journal’s birthday gift to the much younger Biden, on the other hand, was a slap in the face. Citing his age and his apparent decline, running for re-election in his condition was an act of deep selfishness.

IJBOL, as the kids say.

The idea that Biden is too old or too weak to succeed in a second term is laughable.

Over the course of his presidency, as the country emerged from the devastating pandemic, Biden has built an enviable record. But

,

in the minds of voters

,

the bad news seems to erase the good, and when pollsters ask if his age is an issue

,

most say yes.

The economy is strong, but Biden’s approval ratings are low. Even though inflation has fallen, voters are voting

seem to

accuse him of undermining their purchasing power. Unemployment is at record lows, but mortgage rates have soared.

The country is in a sour mood for many reasons, including the dysfunction and brutal partisanship in Washington, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, mass shootings and the fight for reproductive rights. Add to that the fear about Biden’s age.

The hand-wringing

i

It’s especially galling when you consider that the Republican most likely to face him in 2024 is just three years younger than him.

Biden is slim and active, while former President Trump is bald and out of shape. Biden cycles and does yoga. Trump eats fast food. As an American, I found it embarrassing in 2017 when Trump rode in a golf cart during a G-7 meeting in Taormina, Sicily, while all the other world leaders strolled up a hill on foot.

Aside from physical condition, Trump, who faces 91 felonies and four concurrent trials, can barely string together a coherent sentence. He whines on and on about golden showers

and left-wing ‘pests’

at campaign rallies he hoovers up dictators and vows to jail his political enemies.

Trump’s tendency to blister has also likely contributed to his aging, David A. Graham wrote this week in the Atlantic. Biden’s tone is soft and sometimes slow; Hi

sounds

old, in a simple aural sense. If you look at what Trump says, especially on paper, much of it is incomprehensible.

And anyway, why is politics the area of ​​American life where fake hysteria about age is so prevalent?

Yes, of course, our culture is a youth-worshipping culture. But look around you.

O

People still have it.

Lately, the entertainment pages have been flooded with glowing stories about the older achievers.

For example, the 80-year-old director Michael Mann, whose new film is about a crucial moment in the life of the great Italian car manufacturer Enzo Ferrari.

The sense of fandom and passion surrounding the director has never been greater, my colleague Mark Olsen wrote this month, with a younger generation of film fans bonding with his genre reinventions, impeccable craftsmanship and philosophical explorations of masculinity.

Wait a second. How come no one complains that Mann is too old to direct films?

And what about that well-preserved icon, Jane Fonda, 85, who turned 80 in four films this year for Brady, Moving On, Book Club: The Next Chapter and the Ruby Gillman animated film, Teenage Kraken. Why don’t people say she’s too old to act?

Last time I checked, no one pushed Clint Eastwood off the stage into retirement. Instead, Warner Bros. the 93-year-old in the legal thriller Juror No. 2, which recently resumed production after the SAG-AFTRA strike ended.

Ridley Scott is 85. His new film, Napoleon, according to the Daily Beast, is a testament to Scott’s peerless directorial skills in bringing traditional battles to life.

Vanessa Redgrave, 86, has five upcoming projects.

The

“

Oracle of Omaha,” says Warren Buffet, at the age of 93

He runs his investment company Berkshire Hathaway with no plans to retire.

So what does that do to perception?

Doom, gloom and panic are the appropriate responses to the old age of our current Commander in Chief?

In response to questions about his age and abilities, Biden’s press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, recently joked that 80 is the new 40.

Well, she’s wrong. As recent commentary and research shows, 80 is basically the new 60.

And Happy Birthday, Mr. President. You’re an oldie but a goodie.

@robinkabcarian