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.”

  • dhork@lemmy.world
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    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”…

      • SinningStromgald@lemmy.world
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        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.

          • SinningStromgald@lemmy.world
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            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
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              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?

    • grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world
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      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
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      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?