Obama Reportedly Antsy About 2024

The latest ad from Nikki Haley begins in blunt fashion: "I'll just say it—Biden's too old," she says of the 81-year-old president. Politico calls the spot dubbed "New Generation" by the 51-year-old Republican "one of the most direct attacks on Biden's age so far in the 2024 campaign cycle." In the 30-second ad, Haley repeats her previous call for mental competency tests for older lawmakers, as well as term limits. "Washington keeps failing because politicians from yesterday can't lead us into tomorrow."

• No mention: Haley doesn't mention 77-year-old Donald Trump in the ad, though she does call for a "new generation and a new conservative president." Her campaign described the latter comment as an indirect swipe at Trump, reports the Hill.

• Internal friction: A report at Axios says Biden's reluctance to acknowledge his "physical limitations" is causing friction among aides. The president pressures his team to keep him on a rigorous schedule of events, with the result that he sometimes appears tired in public, writes Alex Thompson. "He is his own worst enemy when it comes to his schedule," says a former Biden aide. First lady Jill Biden reportedly keeps a close eye on the president's schedule and tries to get him to rest more.
• Voters' worries: Polls have consistently shown that voters from both parties see Biden as too old to have a second term. For example, a Monmouth University poll found that nearly three-quarters of voters feel that way, compared to 48% for Trump, reports the Hill. An AP poll similarly found that 77% of voters (89% of Republicans and 69% of Democrats) say Biden is too old for another term.
• Obama antsy: Though the specific topic of Biden's age is not addressed, the Wall Street Journal quotes an unnamed person close to Barack Obama who says the former president knows the 2024 race will be close and "feels that Democrats very well could lose," which, given Trump's frontrunner status, he sees as "pretty dangerous for America." The story assesses a flurry of "dismal polls" for Biden, adding that Democrats, including some in the West Wing, are concerned that too many "negative views" about the president are not being challenged forcefully enough.

(More Election 2024 stories.)