The White House press corps has issued an unusual request just hours before the first 2024 presidential debate.
According to reports, the White House press corps pleaded with CNN to allow them direct access to the studio where President Joe Biden will be set to debate former President Donald Trump for the first time since 2020.
The press corps cited potential “medical emergency” concerns involving one of the candidates.
The team generally watches from a live feed from a building across the street from the studio. However, the White House press corps claimed that direct access to where the presidential candidates will be is essential for immediate action should a health-related incident occur.
The report comes as Biden’s age and health face scrutiny over his ability to serve another four years in office. For 90 minutes straight, the president will have the chance to counteract critics— including Democrats— who believe he is too old to be reelected.
The 81-year-old president has been criticized for his age and inability to make it through events without suffering a malfunction.
Biden has a stiff gait, makes verbal slip-ups and has inconsistent public appearances, sometimes veering from solidly delivered speeches to rushed, mumbled public remarks in the same day. Many Democrats are anxious about how well Biden will do because the stakes are so high. Aides now stroll alongside him when he walks to his helicopter as a way of shifting focus away from his slow gait. He wears comfortable soft-soled shoes and now gets aboard Air Force One via a shorter set of stairs, to limit the possibility of a misstep in front of the cameras. Via Reuters.
According to a recent The New York Times and Siena College poll, 73 percent of registered voters feel Biden is “just too old to be an effective president.” In comparison, only 42 percent of registered voters said the same about Trump— who is three years younger than Biden.
Last month, Trump demanded that Biden be drug tested before the debate, claiming the president would be “jacked up” on performance-enhancing drugs.
Trump also accused Biden of being “high as a kite” during the president’s March State of the Union address.
A recent Reuters-Ipsos poll found that mental fitness is one of the key issues for undecided voters, adding that they are more worried about Biden.