Back in April, we told you about how the New York Times was inundated with threats from readers to cancel their subscriptions after the Times published a "snapshot" of 80-year-old Joe Biden, who'd be 86 at the end of his second term. Bringing up Biden's age really made Times readers angry. As The Daily Beast wrote, "Joe Biden Is Old. Deal With It."
Also in April, Ron Filipkowski expressed his sincere compassion for Gov. Ron DeSantis' "poor kids having to constantly serve as political props." Worse yet, John Pavlovitz saw DeSantis with his kids at a press conference and tweeted, "THIS is grooming."
Aaron Rupar chimed in too, decrying DeSantis' use of his kids as political props: "He’s using children to confer legitimacy upon legislation that restricts rights and harms people." Wow, liberals are really concerned with the well-being of DeSantis' kids.
Now the New York Times is reporting that, yes, DeSantis has young kids, and he wants America to know it.
Ron DeSantis would be 46 on Inauguration Day if elected, younger than every president since John F. Kennedy. It's a stark contrast to his main rivals, President Biden and Donald Trump, and his campaign has set out to make sure voters get that. https://t.co/P6BVBLg4jH
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 18, 2023
What depths will Republicans not sink to? pic.twitter.com/YmrOG1yJNo
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) June 18, 2023
Yeah, God help us if we elected someone who wasn't an old fart (like me) with a normal family into the White House. 🙄
— Michael Openshaw (@mopenshaw) June 19, 2023
They wrote all of that and actually thought it was a burn. "Look a the loser who is YOUNG and CARES ABOUT FAMILY."
— Peregrine's Perch (@PeregrinesPerch) June 19, 2023
It's ridiculous. I've heard: his kids are a prop. A real father wouldn't run with kids that young. Whose taking care of his kids will he is campaigning all day. They should be in school.....
— WestCoastWarrior (@warrior_coast) June 19, 2023
As though Biden's age is not a legitimate issue?
— Steve Jeffries (@SteveJeffries42) June 19, 2023
“Local dad won’t stop talking about his kids.”
— Brandon Chicken (@BrandonOfMetry) June 19, 2023
— Common Sense (@SenseTaker) June 19, 2023
There must be a term, like "pouncing" or "weaponizing," that the media will apply to Ron DeSantis's evil exploitation of the age gap.
— Waterman 🚰 🤷♂️ 🌽 (@WmTWaterman) June 19, 2023
Youthsignaling?
Also, this family is not a train wreck like Biden’s family.
— Ken Gardner (@KenGardner11) June 19, 2023
The latest "Republicans pounce" iteration:
— Patrick McGuinness (@patmcguinness) June 19, 2023
"Non-geriatric candidate plays up the fact that he's not an over-the-hill geezer"
How DARE he not have dementia!
"even if his right-wing views leave him out of step with many younger voters."
— Bart Stewart (@flatfingers0) June 19, 2023
Wow. You don't often see a publication being that obvious about trying to manufacture a belief among a particular voting segment.
“Conservatives pounce on flaunting reproductive capabilities, further enforcing problematic cis-heteronormative stereotypes.”
— J.M. Stevens 🥃 (@JmSteve755) June 19, 2023
We guess the Times learned its lesson about bringing up Biden's age. Now it's DeSantis' problem that he's so young and yet out of touch with younger voters. Barack Obama was young and had young children, but we never heard about him "weaponizing" it.
***
Join the conversation as a VIP Member