AUGUSTA, Maine — U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine’s 2nd District voiced concerns about the ages of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on Friday after a report stoked speculation about the 81-year-old president’s acuity.
Golden, a centrist Democrat, often bucks Biden’s agenda but praised him during a recent presidential visit to Maine. Republicans are again targeting the third-term congressman from a rural and conservative-leaning district that twice went for Trump, even though Golden outpolled the former president when they shared the ballot in 2020.
His statements highlight the careful balancing act that Golden’s district requires and Biden’s biggest vulnerability heading into a likely rematch with the 77-year-old Trump in November. Both men are deeply unpopular, with Biden sitting under 39 percent approval in recent national surveys and Trump just above 42 percent favorability.
Trump comes in with major vulnerabilities, including a bevy of federal and state criminal charges that include allegations that he hoarded classified documents at his Florida estate. But Biden’s age has become a top concern among voters, with a recent NBC News poll saying three-quarters of voters and a strong majority of Democrats share it.
In a statement, Golden said being president is difficult and that he had concerns about the demands of the job on anyone as old as Biden and Trump. He noted the minimum age of 35 to serve as president, saying the nation’s founders may not have foreseen such old candidates.
“In an ideal world, Biden’s and Trump’s generation already would have passed the torch,” Golden said. “But as it stands, our system will leave any questions about their age and mental acuity to the American people.”
It was underlined by a report released Thursday by special counsel Robert Hur, who was picked by Biden’s Justice Department to investigate Biden for keeping classified documents from his vice presidency when he was a private citizen. Hur found evidence that Biden retained and shared classified information, but he concluded that criminal charges were not warranted.
He included a sharp list of reasons why, including Biden’s “limited memory” during 2017 recorded conversations with a ghostwriter and an interview with investigators last year in which prosecutors say he could not immediately remember when he served as vice president.
“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” investigators wrote.
Biden responded in a speech on Thursday at the White House, growing angry in denying Hur’s assertion that he had forgotten when his son died. Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46. In response to reporters’ questions about his memory, the president said he’s “the most qualified person in this country” for the job.
The report and Biden’s speech prompted a strong reaction from Republicans, including state Rep. Austin Theriault of Presque Isle, one of the two party members running for the 2nd District. He called on Biden to resign and said Golden should join him in doing so.
“This is a very somber, serious moment for our country,” he said in a statement. “We can’t have a president that’s so mentally limited that they can’t even stand trial.”
Golden has had a complex relationship with Biden. A recent ABC News tally found that he voted with the president less than half the time last year. After Golden opposed Biden’s “Build Back Better” spending plan and a stalled student debt relief agenda, a top presidential aide considered finding a Golden primary challenger, according to a 2022 book from two journalists.
But the two praised each other when Biden went to Auburn to tout his economic policies in July, flying to the event with Golden and others in Maine’s congressional delegation and providing Democrats with a photo of the two together that is likely to end up in campaign ads.
“You’re doing a great job, pal,” the president said of Golden during his speech.
The report raises important questions about Biden, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who is a longtime friend of Biden, said, adding that people should read it and draw their own conclusions.
“It’s up to the Democrats to decide whom they want their nominee to be,” she said in a statement. “And, ultimately, all of this will be in the hands of the voters.”
The office of Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, did not immediately respond to questions about the special counsel’s report. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine’s liberal 1st District, noted Trump’s criminal charges and said Biden’s exoneration was the only finding that mattered.
“The contrast between the leaders of our two political parties could not be starker,” Pingree said.
BDN writer Billy Kobin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
