Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California, a candidate for the state’s U.S. Senate election in 2024, suggested on Monday that age limits should be considered for the presidency and other high offices amid widespread criticism of President Joe Biden’s age and fitness to serve, according to a report by Politico.
Porter is running against Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee of California for the state’s Senate seat currently held by Democratic Sen. LaPhonza Butler, who was appointed to the role after the death of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
During a candidates’ debate on Monday, Porter suggested that “age limits” should be considered by the public for high offices, following a question about whether Biden, age 81, and former President Donald Trump, age 77, the two leading candidates for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations, are capable of serving for a four-year term, Politico reported.
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“I do think generally that age limits are a conversation for all elected officials that we ought to be having,” Porter said in an answer to the question, Politico reported. She noted, however, that “[w]hen I’m evaluating President Biden, what I’m looking for is the results — what he’s delivered to help my family. And I’m pleased with what he’s done so far.”
On Thursday, Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Robert Hur released a report on his months-long investigation into Biden’s possession of classified information at his homes and offices before his presidency. While Hur declined to pursue criminal charges, his report stated, following interviews, that Biden was an “elderly man with a poor memory” who forgot key details about his life.
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Porter’s comments, however, were the outlier among Democrats on stage for Monday’s debate. Schiff, the frontrunner, who led the first impeachment inquiry into Trump in 2019 and was censured by the House of Representatives in 2023, defended Biden and claimed that Trump was not fit for office at any age, Politico reported.
The only candidate on stage to directly attack Biden was the leading Republican candidate, Steve Garvey, a former Major League Baseball player. “We’re saddened when we look at him in the state he’s in now,” Garvey said, according to Politico.
Porter, at age 50, is among the youngest of the three major Democratic candidates in the race. Schiff is 63 while Lee, at 77, is the same age as Trump. Recent polls show Schiff with a 10% lead over Porter, while Lee is in third place.
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A recent poll by Ipsos for ABC News suggests that 86% of voters believe that Biden is “too old” to serve in office, with 62% have the same concerns about Trump.
Under California’s nonpartisan jungle primary system, all candidates across all parties compete in a single primary election, following which the top two candidates, regardless of party, advance to the general election in November.
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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