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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."

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[-] dhork@lemmy.world 86 points 1 year ago

I read this differently than you all do. The point isn't that he's saying that Biden is "fine", but specifically that he did not say any of those things about Trump. I wish someone would directly ask him whether Trump "does his homework, reads the papers, reads all the read-ahead material"....

[-] mrnotoriousman@kbin.social 31 points 1 year ago

Pretty sure Trump openly admitted that he doesn't. No need to ask again.

[-] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

I think it's more of a can't than a didn't. He can't because he never made time for it and even if he did it wouldnt mean anything to him.

[-] Thecornershop@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Is there any documenty proof that Trump isn't functionally illiterate?

[-] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I'm not even implying he's illiterate. I'm saying he has forever been so far removed from any semblance of normal society that explaining an issue to him, foreign or domestic, hes not going to have any way to relate to or understand it and he doesn't want to.

[-] Thecornershop@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Sorry I may have come across wrong. I believe he may be functionally illiterate, but don't have any proof so was asking if there is any known evidence that proves that he isn't.

You're right in your point regardless, he has no fucking clue about life. Didn't be think ID was required to buy food at the grocery store or something?

[-] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

He has said ID is required to buy food.

As far as functionally illiterate there is no "proof", such as medical diagnosis or anything, but it has been hypothesised that he has ADHD and dyslexia based on video from a deposition.

"Sry I didn't do my homework. I didn't have time because I didn't prepare because I don't give a fuck about my homework."

[-] grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

Yes, this was "any random person who can hold a steady job would be better than the irresponsible, feces throwing chimp we had in here before".

[-] TechyDad@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

whether Trump "does his homework, reads the papers, reads all the read-ahead material"....

That depends, does endlessly watching FOX News and reading right wing conspiracy theories on Twitter while taking hours of "executive time" and needing briefings condensed into the briefest of bullet points for even rudimentary comprehension count?

[-] gusgalarnyk@lemmy.world 40 points 1 year ago

The main comments seem to think Milley WAS commenting on Biden's health after saying he wouldn't and I disagree.

He said Biden read the prep material, was aware of the current issues, and took national security matters very seriously. You could extrapolate that to mean he's mentally well but I don't think that's a necessary conclusion and it's definitely not a direct comment on the president's health.

No one likes how old the president is, but Milley wasn't going against his own words here in the excerpt that I read.

[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 9 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley addressed President Biden's age in a recent 60 Minutes interview.

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.

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.

"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.


The original article contains 470 words, the summary contains 150 words. Saved 68%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[-] Rapidcreek@reddthat.com 6 points 1 year ago

Our retired flag officers still have a service they need to perform for the country. Especially the more recent retirees, who I think would have more currency than some of the guys and gals who have been out for a couple decades

[-] Habahnow@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

This is an extremely good point actually. Though I guess it wouldn't help. I think either aside already had an assumption on what the answer is, with Republicans probably not open to having a changed view

[-] TechyDad@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I'm still surprised how some people can say Biden is too old while being fine with Trump's age. Trump is 3 years younger than Biden. At that age, 3 years isn't a major difference.

Of course, with the right, Biden's age is just the only thing they have been able to raise that's gotten any traction. The whole "Hunter Biden/Biden Crime Family" thing has been a big flop with independents. The right's best hope is to convince independents that Biden is so old that his brain has turned to mush while Trump's brain is perfectly fine despite being only 3 years younger.

this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2023
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