Biden critics ‘don’t understand anything about old age,’ says Rita Moreno at 92
Rita Moreno says people who criticize President Biden’s octogenarian status “don’t understand anything about old age.”
The legendary “West Side Story” actor, who turned 92 last week, opened up to ITK when asked recently whether she considers Biden’s age an issue in the 2024 presidential race. Eighty-one-year-old Biden is the oldest president to be elected to the White House.
“I think people are mistaking something of President Biden,” Moreno said.
“I think that because he walks like an elderly person — which he does — they don't think this is working,” Moreno said, pointing to her head.
“They don’t understand anything about old age,” the EGOT winner exclaimed.
“There’s a misperception and the other side is taking advantage of that misperception,” Moreno, who supported Biden in the 2020 presidential election and has been critical of former President Trump, said.
“That scares me because that other side is pretty ruthless,” she added.
Noting that she didn’t “want to get political,” Moreno said she hoped age “isn't what's on the minds of good Americans.”
An August Wall Street Journal poll found that 73 percent of registered voters considered Biden “too old to run for president.” Forty-seven percent of those polled indicated age was an issue for Biden’s potential Republican 2024 opponent, 77-year-old Trump.
Moreno, who starred in “80 for Brady” earlier this year, pointed to her flourishing career as evidence that age could be nothing but a number.
“I mean, look at me. I’m older than he is!” Moreno said of Biden.
And suddenly, the Puerto Rico-born performer was pitching her possible political bid.
“I could be president too, come to think of it. Right?” Moreno quipped.
“Not a bad idea,” she said.