Gen. Milley addresses President Biden's age
Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley addressed President Biden's age in a recent 60 Minutes interview.
The president's age, along with that of former President Donald Trump, have become points of concern for many ahead of the 2024 election. Mr. Biden is now 80 and Trump, the current frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, is 77. Political opponents and even some allies have portrayed them as too old to be president.
"I didn't comment on the former president's mental health, physical health and I'm not going to comment on the current president's mental health or physical health. I think that's highly inappropriate for the senior officer of the United States military to do that," Milley said.
Milley was nominated to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Trump and served in the role under Biden until he left office at the end of September.
Milley, in his role as the nation's highest ranking military officer, regularly met with Mr. Biden. He said the president was "fine" each time.
"How people interpret that is up to them, but I engage with him frequently and alert, sound, does his homework, reads the papers, reads all the read-ahead material. And he's very, very engaging in issues of very serious matters of war and peace and life and death," Milley said. "So if the American people are worried about an individual who is, you know, someone who's making decisions of war and peace and has access to, you know, makes the decisions of nuclear weapons and that sort of thing, I think they can rest easy."
Around 80% of Americans believe elected officials older than 75 risk being out of touch with the times, and 78% have concerns about their ability to perform their job, a CBS News poll published in September found. Just more than half of Americans polled, 53%, believe the presidency is too demanding for someone over the age of 75.
President Ronald Reagan was 77 at the end of his second term when he left office. He was the oldest sitting president until Biden.
Presidential contender and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has commented on both Mr. Biden and Trump's ages.
"The presidency is not a job for someone that's 80 years old," the 45-year-old DeSantis told "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell in September. "And there's nothing, you know, wrong with being 80. Obviously I'm the governor of Florida. I know a lot of people who are elderly. They're great people. But you're talking about a job where you need to give it 100%. We need an energetic president."
President Biden's physician Kevin O'Connor said in February that the president remained "fit for duty" after a routine physical.
Milley is set to appear on 60 Minutes on Oct. 8, 2023.
