Joy Reid, a host for MSNBC, responded to the second State of the Union address from President Joe Biden — which, as reported by a number of those who watched it, was filthy with fumbles and heavily slurred speech — by making the claim that it was proof positive that the president’s age was not a limiting factor for him. However, Brit Hume, a Fox News political analyst, held the exact opposite view.
Reid was quite vocal when it came to her take after the end of the speech, claiming, “There’s a lot of anxiety in the Democratic political world about Biden’s age. He shattered that tonight. He’s obviously … it’s similar to what Nancy Pelosi is able to do. There’s certain things that an experienced politician can do … that an inexperienced politician, even a Kevin McCarthy, who’s been around a long time, but is obviously not as ready for primetime as Joe Biden.”
WATCH:
Joy Reid: "There's a lot of anxiety in the Democratic political world about Biden’s age. He shattered that tonight … even Kevin McCarthy, who’s been around a long time, but is obviously not as ready for primetime as Joe Biden." pic.twitter.com/jPbHq4raDP
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) February 8, 2023
Reid then seemed to suggest that Old Uncle Joe had pulled from his vast experience when it comes to negotiating as a U.S. Senator. adding that he had personally negotiated with quite a few of the people in that very room and had drawn from that in his role as president.
However, as the senior political analyst for Fox News, Hume made the argument that Biden’s speech had not been at all reassuring for anyone who might be harboring a concern that the president’s age was quickly catching up to him.
WATCH:
Joined by @brithume tonight with his take on the #SOTU #FoxNews pic.twitter.com/boSrGa2cHC
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) February 8, 2023
Pointing out that he had been able to see quite a few State of the Union speeches, Hume went on, “And looking at this one and this man giving it, I think that there are two ways to look at this speech.”
He continued on to state that people could just look at the content of the speech and whether or not it was actually based in fact and made an impact simply based on what was being said, or they could watch biden and see how he looked and sounded while actually giving the speech.
“The other way is looking at this man, this 80-year-old man, the oldest president I guess ever, and whether he got through the speech well,” Hume went on. “It seemed to me there was an awful lot of stumbling and slurring and words left out and so on. So the question becomes this: does someone sitting at home worried about the future of our country — perhaps suffering from inflation and the other maladies, worried about crime, worried about the border — look at this man delivering this speech tonight and say, ‘I have confidence to give him four more years. He’s the man who’s led our nation so well, he’s fully in command’?”
“Or do they have doubts?” he finished. “Doubts that they may already harbor based on Afghanistan and certain other things. I have considerable doubt as to whether this was a confidence-inspiring speech tonight.”
