'You don’t need to be young': Bill Maher slams anti-Biden ageism as a 'big red herring'

01 March 2023

If President Joe Biden runs for reelection in 2024 and wins, he will be 82 when he begins a second term on Inauguration Day 2025. It remains to be seen whether or not Biden will run, but he certainly sounded like he was making the case for a second term when he bragged about his economic record during his passionate 2023 State of the Union address.

The right-wing media echo chamber has been quick to blame Biden's gaffes on his age, conveniently overlooking the fact that former President Donald Trump will be 77 on June 14. Biden overcame a speech impediment, and the fact that he is gaffe-prone has nothing to do with this age; the former vice president/ex-U.S. senator had his share of gaffes when he was in his thirties and forties. Moreover, a speech impediment has nothing to do with one's intellect.

During a late February interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, political comedian Bill Maher made it clear that he has no problem with Biden's age. Maher, who hosts "Real Time With Bill Maher" on HBO, emphasized that Biden should be judged from a policy standpoint — not based on the fact that he is an octogenarian.

Maher told Tapper, "Every other country in the world seems to have gotten this about the elderly — they're wise. That's what you need. I don’t mind at all that he's 82 or 84 or 86. Yes, if he loses his marbles. But there are plenty of 86-year-old people who have not lost their marbles. And people used to get that. We have an important decision to make; go to the elders."

The "Real Time" host slammed negative talk of Biden's age as a "red herring."

Maher told Tapper, "He was always a gaffe machine to begin with… But if it's Trump against Biden (in 2024), I think Biden will win…. If it's not Biden, I don't know."

Maher covered a lot of ground during the interview, slamming Trump as a dangerous authoritarian but also criticizing "wokeness" on the left. Maher draws a distinction between liberalism and "wokeness," and he is a fan of the former but definitely not the latter.

Maher told Tapper, "I would categorize liberal as different than woke. Woke, which started out as a good thing — alert to injustice — who could be against that? But it became sort of an eye roll because they love diversity except of ideas."

When Tapper asked Maher to define "wokeness," the "Real Time" host responded, "Again, I think it's this collection of ideas that are not building on liberalism, but very often undoing it. I mean, five years ago, Abraham Lincoln was not a controversial figure among liberals; we liked him. Now, they take his name off schools and tear down his statues. Really? Lincoln isn't good enough for you?.... You change the definitions, then say I'm more conservative. I believe what I've always believed."

Maher also lamented how "tribal" the United States has become and said of Trump, "Have you seen this man? He's everything that's wrong with a human being stuffed into one man…. He is incapable, I think, of ever conceding defeat. And I've never seen him do it."

Watch the video below or at this link.

Bill Maher on wokeness and why having an older president isn’t a bad thingwww.youtube.com

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