ESPN host Stephen A. Smith said the country needs to have a new president in 2024 based on President Biden’s age, but he expects he may potentially support the incumbent against the possible Republican candidates.
Smith said during an episode of his podcast on Friday that he supports someone other than Biden being elected president next year, noting that Biden, who is already the oldest president the country has had, would be 82 at the start of his potential second term.
“Somebody’s gotta say it, so I’m gonna say it: We need a new president in 2024. We need a new president,” he said.
The outspoken ESPN personality defended Biden over the incident last week in which he tripped and fell at the Air Force Academy commencement ceremony, saying “that could happen to anybody” and it is “not a big deal.” He argued that Biden falling is not evidence that “he’s just not all there.”
But Smith pointed out that Biden is already 80, and people have raised questions about his ability to serve as president. He said he is not calling for Biden to be removed from office through the 25th Amendment, through which a majority of the Cabinet could declare the president unable to perform their responsibilities, and that he voted for him in 2020.
“I voted for him, and based on some of the leading candidates on the right side, I’d probably be forced to vote for him again ’cause they scare the living hell outta me with some of the things that they’re preaching about. But I wouldn’t like it,” Smith said.
He said he does not want to engage in any ageism, but some jobs are better performed by those younger than the president.
He said he also expects that Republicans will look to use any instances of Biden tripping over his words or falling, like the incident from the graduation ceremony, to attack him as unfit for office.
Biden has acknowledged that questions about his age to serve as president are “totally legitimate” but has vowed to show his ability to continue doing the job.
Smith has previously criticized former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who have been seen as the two front-runners for the GOP nomination for president.