Biden is too old, at 81. He seems senile. Trump is just as old, at 77. He seems confused.
Both men have made many gaffes that raise questions about their age. Biden confused the leader of Egypt with the leader of Mexico. Trump confused the leader of China with the leader of North Korea.
I wonder, though, if the problem is not their age, but their white savior complex.
Let’s face it. Aging has its challenges, as I am discovering.
My body can’t accomplish the feats I seamlessly performed forty years earlier. I’m specifically thinking of acrobatic disco. I am beginning to feel pains in parts of my body I didn’t even know existed when I wake up in the morning.
As my final resting place appears closer on the horizon, I am slowing down, publishing one book a year rather than my usual two. But if I can quote that great moral philosopher, Monty Python, “I’m not dead yet.”
Ageism is a form of bigotry I never spent much effort trying to understand. I was too busy struggling against ethnic discrimination.
Living in a culture that glorifies youth, my feeble attempts to stay young, like dying my hair, are not working. How different if we were a culture that celebrated the wisdom of our elders?
“Isn’t wisdom found among the aged? Does not understanding come with long life?. . I thought to myself, ‘Age should speak; advance years should teach wisdom’” (Job 12:12; 32:7).
Yes, both Biden and Trump have had what has come to be known as “senior moments.” But when younger people experience similar confusion, we simply chalk it up to a “brain freeze.”
Why a difference in terminology? If the only difference is the person’s age, then that is what we call ageism.
“Brain freezes” are not an indication of decreased mental capacity. The issue is not forgetting where you left your car keys, but what car keys are. Dementia can strike any age group, having been diagnosed in people as young as their 30s.
Unless Biden or Trump have been diagnosed with a failing mental capacity, dismissing them based on their age is ageism. Hence, my concern is not their age. My concern is their white savior complex.
There comes a time when one should move aside to make room for the next generation, not because they are too old, but because true wisdom prepares the next generation to continue the supposed good work begun.
The selfishness of holding on to power, masked in “only I can bring salvation,” can usher consequences that can undo one’s lifelong contributions.
Take Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who spent a lifetime championing women’s rights. During the Obama administration, while suffering from poor health, she refused to step down, thus frustrating the appointment of a like-minded successor. Her refusal to retire allowed Trump to hire a polar opposite justice, who provided the needed vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Whether today’s Mitch McConnell or the late Dianne Feinstein, Joe Biden or Donald Trump, holding on to power will have negative consequences. This isn’t because they are too old, but because of their overblown self-importance.
With Donald Trump, the savior complex is more pronounced. When accepting the 2016 nomination at the Republican National Convention, he informed the world that “I alone can fix it.” During this year’s campaign, his savior complex has morphed into a darker message: “I am your retribution.”
Biden, while less flamboyant, is no less given in to this white savior complex. During a December 2023 fundraising event, he told donors: “We’ve got to get it done, not because of me… If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running. We cannot let him win.”
The next day, he tried to walk back his proclamation by saying he was “not the only Democrat who could beat Trump.” But he is still running for a second term, crowding out other potential candidates. Power and self-importance have corrupted his more selfless proclamation, which hinted at being a one-term president by referring to himself as a “bridge” to a new “generation of leaders.”
The solution is not age restriction but term limits—for Congress and the Supreme Court, just as they exist for the presidency. The problem is not that Biden or Trump are too old, but a political system that privileges incumbency rather than making room for others to have a viable chance of getting elected.
As long as we focus on age, as long as ageist sentiments cloud our discourse, we are less likely to begin imagining a new way of doing government that is more responsive to the people’s hopes and dreams.
And what are the people’s hopes and dreams, at least for today? They are hopes and dreams that will go unfulfilled—that Biden and Trump will not run for office.
Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, and a contributing correspondent at Good Faith Media.
