First Lady Jill Biden will host a White House brunch Sunday to mark President Joe Biden’s 80th birthday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday.
“So the First Lady is going to have brunch on Sunday,” Jean-Pierre said during the late-afternoon press conference. “They usually celebrate it on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, [but] because everyone will, the family will be here this weekend, he will have an opportunity to celebrate his birthday on his actual day.’
The Bidens are being gathered at the White House on Saturday in Washington for the wedding of the president’s granddaughter Naomi to fiancé Peter Neal.
On Sunday, November 20, the President will make history as the first octogenarian to take office.
President Ronald Reagan was 77 years old, almost 78 when he left office in January 1989.
Biden is the country’s oldest president, having been 77 when he was elected in November 2020 and 78 when he took office in January 2021.
President Joe Biden will mark his 80th birthday Sunday with a brunch hosted by First Lady Jill Biden, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday
The Bidens are gathering in Washington this weekend for the wedding of the president’s granddaughter and Hunter Biden’s daughter Naomi to fiancé Peter Neal
Last month, Politico reported that there were no plans for a blowout party to mark the occasion, and instead Biden would “just focus on work.”
That’s because the president’s age has become a convenient line of attack for Republicans who didn’t help Biden by looking around a room for a dead congressman and falling off his bike over the summer.
In late September, the White House briefing room exploded with questions after Biden appeared to search the room at an off-campus hunger summit for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski, who died in a car crash in August.
“Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? She’s not allowed to be here,’ Biden mused.
Jean-Pierre tried several times to dismiss the incident, saying Walorski was “top of mind”.
In June, Biden got his sneaker caught in his bike’s toe clip and fell onto his side while greeting a crowd gathered around a trail in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Last month, the percentage of voters who said they were “very concerned” about Biden’s mental health rose five points — from 36 percent in August to 41 percent in October — according to polls from the I&I/TIPP poll.
Overall, 64 percent of voters in the October poll said they were concerned about Biden’s mental health.
The White House has consistently rejected questions about Biden’s fitness for office.
“As President Biden said, anyone who has questions about his age should just watch him: he has achieved record job creation, made NATO the strongest ever, and in less than half a term in office, the most significant legislative record since LBJ accumulated,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates told Politico. “I have no comment on whether Politico will be invited to his birthday,” Bates added.
But Politico quoted sources as admitting that the president tired more easily – making him more prone to slipping and his stutter.
The Bidens are more reticent about birthdays than the Obamas. Last October, the President celebrated Vice President Kamala Harris’ birthday with flowers and a gift
Vice President Kamala Harris (left) was presented with flowers and a photo by President Joe Biden (right) when she turned 57 last October
First Lady Jill Biden (right) celebrated her 70th birthday last June with a bike ride alongside President Joe Biden (left), who whisked her away to her home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
The Bidens generally throw more low-key birthday celebrations than their Democratic predecessors, the Obamas.
Last year, for Jill Biden’s 70th birthday, the President whisked her away to her vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, midweek, where they were spotted biking and onlookers sang “Happy Birthday” to the first lady.
When Vice President Kamala Harris turned 57 on October 20, the President brought her flowers and a gift to her office.
Former President Barack Obama made headlines when he threw a star-studded party in Martha’s Vineyard last August to mark his 60th birthday despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
And during her tenure in the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama threw a massive 50th birthday party on Jan. 17.
Beyonce and John Legend performed, while guests included Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Samuel L. Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Magic Johnson, Gladys Knight, Gayle King and Rachael Ray.