Are US politicians too old? | Global News Podcast — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Welcome to the global news podcast from
2. 0:02the BBC World Service. I'm joined by our
3. 0:05youthful Washington correspondent Daniel
4. 0:08Bush. Daniel, are US politicians too
5. 0:11old?
6. 0:12>> Well, that's the question on everyone's
7. 0:14mind right now. I appreciate you calling
8. 0:15me youthful. We'll get into this a
9. 0:17little bit. Um I am 1 day younger than
10. 0:19the vice president of the United States,
11. 0:21J.D. Vance. So,
12. 0:22uh whether or not that's youthful is is
13. 0:24in the eye of the beholder, but listen,
14. 0:26this is aging politics has been in the
15. 0:28headlines here in the United States um
16. 0:30over the weekend with the death of South
17. 0:32Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, as well
18. 0:35as with the long hospitalization of
19. 0:37Mitch McConnell. Lindsey Graham was 71.
20. 0:40Mitch McConnell is in his mid-80s. Um
21. 0:43this has been a topic now for years in
22. 0:45the United States as leaders in both
23. 0:47parties have been older. Obviously, age
24. 0:49was a major issue for the last
25. 0:52president, Joe Biden, who ended up um
26. 0:54dropping his bid for re-election amid
27. 0:56concern over his ability to do the job.
28. 0:59The current president, Donald Trump,
29. 1:01along with Biden, is only the second US
30. 1:03president ever to be 80 in office. So,
31. 1:05that is the big debate. You know, are
32. 1:07politicians the leaders in both parties
33. 1:10um too many of them critics some some
34. 1:12critics argue are too old to do the job.
35. 1:16>> Is this something that matters to
36. 1:17voters?
37. 1:19>> Well, that's a very good question. I
38. 1:21mean, you know, from one perspective,
39. 1:23you could argue that it does not because
40. 1:24voters have now elected you know,
41. 1:26multiple um presidential candidates who
42. 1:29were in their early 70s or or even
43. 1:31pushing 80. Um you know, it it goes to
44. 1:34what the options are for voters, right?
45. 1:36If we take a step back for a minute, the
46. 1:38average age of members of Congress in
47. 1:40the House is approaching 60. It's a
48. 1:42little under 60. The average age of
49. 1:43senators is approaching 70. And there
50. 1:46are a couple of reasons for that, which
51. 1:47I think are important to to point out.
52. 1:49You know, there are typically two tracks
53. 1:52in the US for people who end up in
54. 1:54elected office. One is career
55. 1:55politicians, and and one is people who
56. 1:58were not involved in politics and then
57. 1:59enter politics later in life. For career
58. 2:02politicians, the typical track, again,
59. 2:04this is typical, not the case for
60. 2:05everyone, is you're working your way up
61. 2:07through the ranks like in any any
62. 2:08industry, right? So, serving on your
63. 2:10local city council and then becoming a
64. 2:12state senator or assembly person, then
65. 2:14running for Congress, and typically by
66. 2:16the time you end up running for
67. 2:17Congress, and especially by the time you
68. 2:18end up running for the Senate, you've
69. 2:19been doing this for decades, which means
70. 2:21that, you know, you're in your 40s, 50s,
71. 2:2460s, or even older. And then often, as
72. 2:26is the case for people who weren't in
73. 2:28elected office to begin with, they built
74. 2:30a career in business, in media, and in
75. 2:33any other field, and then they end up
76. 2:35running, you know, again, in their 40s
77. 2:36and 50s. And there are
78. 2:39outliers. Joe Biden was the youngest
79. 2:40person ever elected to the US Senate in
80. 2:421972 at the age of 29. Alexandria
81. 2:45Ocasio-Cortez, she was one of the
82. 2:47youngest members ever elected to the
83. 2:49House
84. 2:50now close to a decade ago. But for the
85. 2:52most part, by the time that that these
86. 2:54people enter office or run for a
87. 2:57high-profile office, they're, you know,
88. 2:58in their 50s or older, and that's the
89. 3:00choice that voters have, and and so
90. 3:02that's who they put in in these
91. 3:03positions.
92. 3:04>> Yeah, and it does tend to be older
93. 3:06people who actually go out and vote.
94. 3:09Younger people are less likely to vote.
95. 3:12So, I mean, is this a sign that maybe
96. 3:14the candidates being older are out of
97. 3:16touch with younger voters?
98. 3:18>> This is something that President Obama
99. 3:20himself pointed out in an interview just
100. 3:22a few days ago. Um and I and I'll pull
101. 3:24it up here so I can quote from Obama
102. 3:26directly. He said, "I'm a pretty healthy
103. 3:2964." That he feels great, but the truth
104. 3:31is that he's feels that a half of the
105. 3:33references that his daughters make about
106. 3:35social media, he doesn't understand. And
107. 3:37then Obama went on to say, quote, "There
108. 3:39is an element of at some point you age
109. 3:41out." And Obama also said that, you
110. 3:45know, he he wasn't suggesting a sort of
111. 3:47hard and fast rule, as he put it, but he
112. 3:49did think that Democrats, you know, and
113. 3:52again, he's speaking about his party in
114. 3:53particular, do well when we when we have
115. 3:55candidates who are plugged into the
116. 3:56moment, to the zeitgeist, as Obama put
117. 3:58it. So, here we have the former
118. 4:01president making an argument that at
119. 4:03least his party anyway, will be better
120. 4:05served if they can put forward
121. 4:07candidates who are younger, who are, you
122. 4:10know, more plugged into topics of the
123. 4:12moment. Of course, you know, it's easier
124. 4:15for him to say that having, you know,
125. 4:16gone through and now effectively retired
126. 4:19from elected office. He's one of only a
127. 4:21half dozen or so Americans in history
128. 4:24who entered the presidency under the age
129. 4:27of 50. So, he's you know, comfortably
130. 4:29looking at this in a rearview mirror, if
131. 4:31you will. But, you know, he was
132. 4:33channeling something that I've heard in
133. 4:36both the Democratic Party and the
134. 4:37Republican Party for years covering
135. 4:39politics, which is, you know, some
136. 4:40frustration from voters that um older
137. 4:44candidates simply aren't with the times,
138. 4:46don't understand the issues that matter
139. 4:48to them most, and you know, we have a
140. 4:50lot of examples where that is really
141. 4:52stood out. Uh certainly
142. 4:55the last competitive Democratic primary
143. 4:57election, which was 2020, where Joe
144. 4:59Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren,
145. 5:01a lot of the the leading candidates were
146. 5:03in their 70s or approaching 80. Um and
147. 5:07at you know, at times during that
148. 5:09campaign season, clearly, you know,
149. 5:12showed a generational divide between
150. 5:14much younger candidates who were, you
151. 5:15know, in some cases decades younger than
152. 5:18them. Uh that's one example. There have
153. 5:20also been moments on Capitol Hill
154. 5:22recently, in the last decade or so,
155. 5:24where Congress has gotten more serious
156. 5:25about trying to regulate technology
157. 5:28companies, social media companies, where
158. 5:30members of Congress have brought, you
159. 5:32know, the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world
160. 5:33up to the Hill to grill them in
161. 5:34testimony, where we've seen these
162. 5:36lawmakers talking about technology and
163. 5:40clearly struggling to grasp it and
164. 5:42understand it. So, that the moments like
165. 5:44that are a reminder that the people in
166. 5:46power in this country often times are in
167. 5:49fact somewhat out of touch with some of
168. 5:50these issues.
169. 5:51>> And there have been questions where
170. 5:53there have been serving presidents and
171. 5:55suggestions that they may have dementia
172. 5:58and and people have realized that if you
173. 6:01do have a president with dementia, it's
174. 6:02never been proved while they've been in
175. 6:04office, but if you did have a president
176. 6:06with dementia, there's very little you
177. 6:07could do about it and it to put it
178. 6:09crudely, they have their hands on the
179. 6:11nuclear button.
180. 6:12>> That's right. And again, you know, just
181. 6:15to use the most recent example,
182. 6:17this was an issue that was debated and
183. 6:19talked about during Joe Biden's
184. 6:21presidency.
185. 6:22He entered office in his very late 70s,
186. 6:25became the first sitting president over
187. 6:2780 in the Oval Office, and then prepared
188. 6:30to run for re-election at the age of 82,
189. 6:32which if he had served a second full
190. 6:33term, had he won, would have put him at
191. 6:3586 as he was leaving office.
192. 6:38Biden's disastrous debate performance
193. 6:40where he appeared to out of it, he was
194. 6:43stumbling, forgetting, um, you know, his
195. 6:46his train of thought often was a shock
196. 6:49to the nation, you know, a stark example
197. 6:51of a president who is older like many
198. 6:54older Americans and and people around
199. 6:56the world, you know, dealing with with
200. 6:58the realities of of aging. Um, the
201. 7:01question is though, Alex, you know, how
202. 7:03much does this actually affect your job?
203. 7:05And, you know,
204. 7:07I think there are two things to say
205. 7:08here. On the one hand, um, you know,
206. 7:11politicians, they're not uh day manual
207. 7:14laborers, right? You can sit comfortably
208. 7:16behind a desk. You are flown around the
209. 7:18world on government planes, but this is
210. 7:20private transportation, right? You're
211. 7:21not waiting on long lines at the
212. 7:24airport. You have all your needs catered
213. 7:25to. Presidents in particular have access
214. 7:28to some of the very best health care in
215. 7:30the world. So, the physical side, you
216. 7:32know, that that part is sort of taken
217. 7:34care of, if you will. But, these are,
218. 7:36you know, emotionally, mentally,
219. 7:37psychologically taxing, grueling jobs,
220. 7:40whether you're the president or a member
221. 7:41Congress, you are constantly scrutinized
222. 7:44every word. You have cameras on you from
223. 7:46the moment you step out the door. That
224. 7:49part of it is difficult, and and of
225. 7:51course public speaking is such a crucial
226. 7:53part of the job, whether you're on a
227. 7:54debate stage, whether you're giving an
228. 7:55interview, making a speech. And when
229. 7:58presidents start to slip consistently
230. 8:00and show signs of age, as former
231. 8:03President Biden did, then it starts a
232. 8:05debate about whether or not they can
233. 8:07actually perform the duties of their
234. 8:08office. And and the White House under
235. 8:10Biden insisted that he did, and and
236. 8:12certainly, you know, you could see him
237. 8:15in person sort of sitting there in in
238. 8:17meetings, um seeming to to grasp the
239. 8:19issues. But then when he stumbled, the
240. 8:21question became, you know, what is
241. 8:23really happening behind closed doors?
242. 8:25And to your point, you know, can he
243. 8:27exercise the duties of the office up to
244. 8:29and including your military issues?
245. 8:31>> Yeah, US presidents have term limits.
246. 8:35How much support might there be in
247. 8:38Washington after the cases that you
248. 8:39mentioned, maybe for age limits?
249. 8:42>> It would be a monumental task to
250. 8:44actually do that, to to change the
251. 8:46fundamental principles underlying the
252. 8:49way that our government here in the
253. 8:50United States is set up. It's highly,
254. 8:52highly unlikely that that would ever
255. 8:54come to come to pass, in part because
256. 8:56once politicians are in office, they
257. 8:58like to run for office and hold on to
258. 9:01that office, which is why we see, you
259. 9:03know, so many senators and members of
260. 9:05Congress in particular serving into
261. 9:06their 70s, into their 80s. There have
262. 9:08been instances in the last decade or two
263. 9:10numerous of of people serving even into
264. 9:13their 90s. So once people get a hold of
265. 9:15power, they don't like to relinquish it,
266. 9:17and for that self-serving interest
267. 9:18alone, it's highly unlikely that there
268. 9:21would be a major change to to the way
269. 9:23that our government is set up that would
270. 9:25limit people from serving more than a
271. 9:27couple of consecutive terms.
272. 9:29>> Some of the biggest names in Washington,
273. 9:31you mentioned Mitch McConnell, who's
274. 9:34been in hospital, Nancy Pelosi, are
275. 9:35reaching the end of their careers. Are
276. 9:39there younger people waiting in the
277. 9:42wings to take over, to take the big
278. 9:45jobs?
279. 9:46>> That's a very good question. There will
280. 9:47be There is There has been a push more
281. 9:51so in the Democratic Party than the
282. 9:52Republican Party, frankly, for among
283. 9:55younger members of Congress to take over
284. 9:58those top jobs. These are you both the
285. 10:00party leader jobs, the House majority
286. 10:03leader, the House speaker, the Senate
287. 10:05majority and minority leaders, those
288. 10:07those jobs, as well as
289. 10:08the the major ranking member or
290. 10:11chairperson of the big most influential
291. 10:14committees in Congress that you control
292. 10:16the power of the purse, that can
293. 10:19approve judicial nominations, those
294. 10:21kinds of positions.
295. 10:22So, there is a push, especially on the
296. 10:24Democratic side, among some younger
297. 10:26members to rise up the ranks a little
298. 10:28bit faster. However, the way seniority
299. 10:31works, and it's a little complicated and
300. 10:33gets into the weeds quickly, those jobs
301. 10:36likely go to the next in line. And and
302. 10:38the next in line in many many cases are
303. 10:41also older politicians, you know, who
304. 10:43have been doing this a long time, who've
305. 10:45been waiting their turn. So,
306. 10:47it's unlikely that as we as Mitch
307. 10:50McConnell,
308. 10:51who is not running for re-election,
309. 10:53Nancy Pelosi also not running for
310. 10:54re-election, as some of these major
311. 10:56political figures of the 21st century
312. 10:58exit the scene, that they'll be sort of
313. 11:00immediately overnight wholesale replaced
314. 11:03by, you know, the AOCs, the Alexandria
315. 11:06Ocasio-Cortezes of the world, who are
316. 11:07decades and decades younger, but we'll
317. 11:09begin to see that shift. Some of those
318. 11:12people will get into those positions of
319. 11:14power, but it won't likely be sort of an
320. 11:16overnight, you know, wholesale change.
321. 11:19>> Thanks, Daniel. Daniel Bush, our
322. 11:21Washington correspondent. If you'd like
323. 11:23more from the Global News podcast, click
324. 11:26on the link below. Thanks for watching.