The 2024 election cycle looks like it really could be a year that provides some key pick-up opportunities for Republicans, specifically in the Senate. Among the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents is Sen. Jon Tester of Montana. Although he appears confident he can win reelection, some of his moves have been a bit questionable, specifically his comments about President Joe Biden.
An NBC News article published on Thursday and highlighted by Sister Toldjah at our sister site, RedState hones in on Tester, who is 66, discussing age and health as factors in the upcoming election. This isn't just to do with Biden, but with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who is 81, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who is 90:
Tester, 66, hasn’t said whether this will be his last Senate campaign. And while he opposes term limits, he’s aware of how age has affected his fellow senators. Asked about the recent health issues of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Tester said: “I think it needs to be addressed by the voters.
“I mean, look, the last thing I want to have happen is stay there too long,” Tester said. “I’ve watched it happen too many times in my time in the Senate, and it’s a pitiful thing to watch, where really good people, both sides of the aisle, really, really good people, have stellar careers in public service, really deteriorate to the point where they’re just a shell of what they formerly were. But the voters know that; the voters know that. They can see what I can see.”
That makes sense. Yes, the voters can see what's happening to these members. It's why it's worth having the discussion on age limits and term limits, as well as cognitive tests, though Tester is mentioned as opposing term limits.
That's why it's all the more bizarre that Tester would offer a defense of Biden, who not only very much seems like our nation's oldest president at 80-years-old, but who also has been in politics for "too long." As the very next paragraph goes on to read:
Asked whether he had concerns about President Joe Biden’s age, Tester said he believed Biden, 80, is “absolutely 100% with it.”
“He’s doing a good job. I think folks are making a bigger deal out of it than it is,” Tester said. “But, you know, we’ll see what I’m like at 82. I doubt I’ll be running for president.”
The piece then goes on to discuss who Tester's Republican opponent might be, Rep. Matt Rosendale, who lost to him in 2018, or Tim Sheehy, who NBC News describes as being favored by Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
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But, as Sister Toldjah mentioned, there's more to Tester's remarks than what made it into the write-up.
"Joe Biden, when I've been around him – -and it's not every day – but when I've been around him, when I've seen him on the news, he's absolutely 100 percent with it," Tester offered. "And, uh, uh, he's got his – recall, his...cognitive ability, whatever you want to call it – I'm not a doc, I'm a dairy farmer, but he's fine and he's doing a good job. I think folks are making a bigger deal out of it than it is," he continued, citing his humble, everyday man kind of background (as he often likes to do), but also perhaps offering an excuse to fall back on.
But, as someone who likes to appeal to the average American, it's not the best route to claim that "folks are making a bigger deal out of it than it is," even if that's just something that Tester himself thinks.
Democrat Senator Jon Tester claims Biden is "absolutely 100% with it."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 17, 2023
"He's got his recall, his cognitive ability..." pic.twitter.com/IbWAtJg8el
It's also worth asking if Tester is thinking of the same Joe Biden as the rest of us. His speech on Tuesday in Milwaukee about the supposed successes of Bidenomics was cringeworthy enough, especially when it comes to him not being ready to take the podium, and his confusion upon concluding his speech. He also muddled words too.
WHERE IS JOE? pic.twitter.com/519ngaBkja
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 15, 2023
Joe Biden seems confused leaving the stage after his speech... pic.twitter.com/tqUDa6y6M0
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 15, 2023
BIDEN: "When I signed the bipartisan infralauncher..." pic.twitter.com/rjWJByMaXy
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 15, 2023
These are just some of the awkward moments from one recent speech. This is a president who is frequently confused, often doesn't know where to go (or when), and has even tried to shake hands with people who are not there. Let's not forget how he's called out for dead members of Congress, too, as he did last September when asking for former Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN), who had died almost two months prior.
Joe Biden asks around the audience to point out "Jackie" during a conference on hunger, nutrition, and health.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 28, 2022
Is he referring to Republican Representative Jackie Walorski, who passed away in a car accident in early August? pic.twitter.com/pSRkQLQJYU
Just as he did again on Tuesday, Biden has told embellished tales and flat out false stories to crowds, too many times to count.
In reality, it collapsed before Joe Biden arrived. pic.twitter.com/R9BBxYhlsU
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 15, 2023
Not surprisingly, the NRSC seized the opportunity to call out Tester's defense of Biden by showing a sample of Biden's moments in which he does not look "absolutely 100 percent with it."
Jon Tester: Joe Biden is “absolutely 100% with it… He’s doing a good job. I think folks are making a bigger deal out of it than it is.”
— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) August 17, 2023
Roll the tape! #MTSen pic.twitter.com/fcyGI1Tgso
It's not just Republicans who have concerns with Biden's age and cognitive abilities. Polls show that voters are concerned and don't want him to run again, including many fellow Democrats.
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who has been teasing and hinting and causing some confusion about as to if he'll mount a primary challenge himself to Biden in 2024, is one of those Democrats. In an interview published earlier this week with The Washington Post, Phillips expressed his worries:
Phillips has emerged as the most vocal Democrat in Congress to challenge Biden’s electability, citing poll numbers and the president’s age, 80, as key factors as to why he should pass the baton to someone else in the party.
His concerns are sometimes expressed privately by other Democrats, but most disagree with Phillips’s decision to express his misgivings publicly. His criticism is a distraction, said several Democrats who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to share their thoughts about intraparty tensions. They worry his focus on Biden’s age could be used by Republicans in attack ads during the campaign.
Phillips, 54, is unmoved.
“I just felt compelled to raise my voice in the face of what I consider to be an unwillingness to confront the truth right now,” Phillips said.
This comes after Phillips told host Chuck Todd during his Sunday appearance on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that his concerns were not about age, but "about how people feel."
Whether or not he'll run for president in 2024 depends on if anyone else runs, such as Midwestern governors, though Phillips is clear he does want more people to run.
Perhaps Tester is hoping to court the president so that he'll campaign for him all the way in Montana? But he also won't defend him on everything. As the NBC News write-up also mentions:
Tester has cultivated a profile as a moderate Democrat, willing to work with Republicans and criticize his own party. Asked about the recent indictments of former President Donald Trump and Hunter Biden, Tester said that both are innocent until proven guilty but that "if you commit a crime, you pay a price for that."
Pressed about whether he buys Republicans' argument that President Biden played a role in his son's alleged wrongdoing, Tester said: "That’s for somebody else to figure out. But if there’s even, if that connection is there, then that’s a problem."
That also wouldn't make all that much sense given his past comments. A POLITICO piece from February that profiled Tester, as well as Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) who are up for reelection in two other key Senate races to watch, highlighted Tester's remarks on the race being about him:
And Jon Tester was distinguishing himself from the president even before the Montana Democrat announced Wednesday that he’s seeking a fourth term in his ruby-red state.
“This election is hopefully going to be about me. They’re going to try to make it about somebody else that’s not me,” Tester said in a recent interview as he pointed out his Senate workwear, capped by a clashing Montana tie pin. “It’s hard to make me into a banker or anybody. Even when I look like this — who the f*ck puts that kind of a tie tack on their tie?”
...
While Brown and Tester are all in, Manchin hasn’t decided whether to run again, and Biden hasn’t made it official yet either. That makes Tester’s reelection decision all the more critical to the party — he’s probably the only Montana Democrat with a shot. At the moment, Democrats’ hopes of holding the Senate largely ride on Tester and Brown defying their states’ political leanings.
Given that Biden has just a 33 percent approval rating in Montana according to Civiqs, while 60 percent disapprove, Tester would likely be smart to not make his race about Biden. In 2020, Donald Trump won the state with 56.9 percent compared to Joe Biden's 40.5 percent. Trump won Montana in 2016 with 56.2 percent in 2016 to Hillary Clinton's 35.7 percent.
Montana is currently considered a "Toss-Up" or "Lean Democratic."
