Biden's age is his 'superpower' in 2024, Jeffrey Katzenberg says
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[July 18, 2023]
By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Movie mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is advising
Joe Biden on his re-election campaign, says he sees opportunity in what
many consider to be the U.S. President's biggest vulnerability in the
2024 presidential race - his age.
Biden, a Democrat who turned 80 in November, is already the oldest Oval
Office occupant, and will be 86 before a second term ends.
Katzenberg, in a telephone interview, described Biden as "energetic" and
"effective," and suggested Republican attacks on his age will backfire.
"President Biden's age is, in fact, his superpower," Katzenberg said.
"I think people have tried to paint it as a liability or a negative and
I think they are going to fail at that because his age is his knowledge
and experience and as he has said, it is his wisdom."
Polls show that an overwhelming number of Americans, some 86%, believe
the cutoff for serving as president should be age 75 or younger, and
while most Democrats consider Biden "mentally sharp," nearly half of
Democrats wonder if he's up for the challenge of running in 2024.
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Republican presidential candidates such as Nikki Haley have publicly
questioned if Biden will make it to the end of his second-term while
Republican lawmakers such as Ted Cruz have highlighted Biden's age and
questioned Vice President Kamala Harris's ability to take over as
commander-in-chief.
Biden's top Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, is 77.
About one-fourth of Republicans have similar concerns about Trump.
Some Democrats expect such attacks on Biden's age and family will
increase in 2024.
"The age thing is going to become more important to them because other
arguments [against Biden] have evaporated in recent months," including
inflation, high gas prices and record border crossings, predicts Simon
Rosenberg, a veteran Democratic political strategist.
Former Disney executive Katzenberg's opinion is likely to be reflected
in Biden's campaign in the months to come. A longtime Democrat donor and
fundraiser, he's the only non-politician named campaign co-chair when
Biden announced his re-election plans in April.
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U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about
his plans for continued student debt relief after a U.S. Supreme
Court decision blocking his plan to cancel $430 billion in student
loan debt, at the White House in Washington, U.S. June 30, 2023.
REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
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Katzenberg has known Biden since the 1980s, and the two became close
as Katzenberg supported former President Barack Obama. After Trump's
election, Katzenberg encouraged Biden to run, Biden aides have said,
and then to seek a second term.
'SUMMER CYCLE'
Katzenberg, who is tasked with raising money and help with messaging
strategies,said he has not seen any "pockets of resistance" from
corporate donors whose industries may have been hurt by White House
policies, which include pushing higher corporate taxes and cracking
down on junk fees and other profit-plumping activities.
The campaign, which released its fundraising haul for the first
quarter last week, has held more than nearly 40 fundraising events
for the wealthy compared to a handful of political rallies for the
public. Ten donors, including Katzenberg and Linkedin co-founder
Reid Hoffman gave $500,000 or more to the Biden Victory Fund.
Another 82 donors contributed $100,000 or more since Biden
announced.
Katzenberg predicts fundraising for the president's re-election
campaign will slow in coming months. "When you go into the summer
cycle things quiet down," Katzenberg said. "People are away on
vacation and it's not as rich an environment to be raising" funds."
Some Democratic strategists have also questioned the campaign's slow
start. Biden's campaign had four members on the payroll and spent a
total of $1.1 million in the first three months since launch.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jul/18/images/ads/current/peasley_sda_PROMGRAD_2023.png)
Katzenberg said it is part of a strategy to survive a grueling
16-month campaign without exhausting its resources. "It's July 2023.
Building out the leadership of that operation today, so they can sit
around and twiddle their thumbs for the next six months would be
nuts," he said.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington, Additional reporting by
Trevor Hunnicutt. Editing by Heather Timmons and Michael Perry)
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