This Monday, as President Biden met with King Charles in London, CNN This Morning claimed Biden’s age made him uniquely suited for foreign policy and the President’s distance from dissenting Republicans made him much more comfortable abroad.
CNN alleged there was no dissatisfaction with Biden’s actions as president, only “a kind of implicit feeling” that Biden would not run for reelection, which may have dissatisfied voters. “And so, that has nothing to do with the facts or the substance of his actions,” New York Times reporter and CNN political analyst Astead Herndon claimed.
While praising Biden’s conduct abroad, a national political correspondent from Axios, Alex Thompson, attempted to blame Republicans for Biden’s less comfortable manner in America:
I mean, this is not unusual for an incumbent president running for reelection because on the international stage, you don't have congressional Republicans basically telling you “no” all the time, right? So he gets to go -- and you saw this in the interview with Fareed Zakaria over the weekend, too, where he was just so much more comfortable talking about these issues.
It's easy to be comfortable when CNN hosts ask softball questions. 
Herndon attributed Biden’s alleged success abroad to his age, claiming that no one else, particularly no one younger, could handle international affairs as well as Biden. He insisted all Democrats and some Republicans agreed with him.
“And you've had kind of universal praise from him from the Democrats and I think some Republicans who have acknowledged that this is kind of a role that maybe only Biden could do,” Herndon asserted. “That this is the positive of that age. That he has the experience, and that he has been able to show that, particularly on this issue.”
Herndon addressed Biden’s approval ratings (The latest AP-NORC poll showed 58% of voters disapproved of Biden compared to 41% who approved), asserting they had nothing to do with his actions. He blamed implicit feelings about an age bridge and reelection for any disapproval:
You know, when we were talking to people about how they feel about Biden, there's no -- there wasn't dissatisfaction with his actions as president. It was a kind of implicit feeling that they felt like he was supposed to be a bridge to the next generation and maybe that, in running for re-election, that he's kind of breaking that promise. Right? And so, that has nothing to do with the facts or the substance of his actions.
According to Herndon, the facts and substance of Biden’s presidency are above repute. He claimed diplomatic communities gave Biden “universal praise for the tough line that he's walked on this issue” and it was only a matter of whether voters valued that the same way.
CNN faced an uphill battle of portraying Biden as a competent leader, but no one could accuse them of making a half-hearted effort. They blamed Republicans for saying “no” too much and making Biden uncomfortable at home. They claimed 80 years on earth graced the President with great foreign policy wisdom, attributed the President’s disapproval ratings to a misunderstanding about a generational bridge, and added some talk about universal approval among certain factions for good measure. Despite their best efforts, Biden’s 58% disapproval rating proved most Americans do not share CNN’s rose-colored glasses.
Verizon sponsored CNN’s rose-colored coverage.
The Transcript is below, click "expand" to read.
CNN This Morning
7/10/2023
7:33 AM Eastern
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: You know, Alex, I want to ask you because you've covered the President so closely over the course of his time in the White House –
We're going to keep our eyes on this here. We're looking at Windsor Castle right now. As Max was saying, the Guard of Honor playing as we await the President coming in. You saw the two Chinook helicopters carrying staff and press landing just outside, so we should be seeing the President shortly.
The President on the international stage. I think when you talked to advisers, they made clear this is something that kind of animates him. He certainly likes this part of the presidency. What -- behind the scenes for moments like this, what kind of drives President Biden?
ALEX THOMPSON: I mean, this is not unusual for an incumbent president running for reelection because on the international stage, you don't have congressional Republicans basically telling you “no” all the time, right? So he gets to go -- and you saw this in the interview with Fareed Zakaria over the weekend, too, where he was just so much more comfortable talking about these issues. It also -- you know, he was the head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, too. These are issues that really animate him.
I can tell you just behind the scenes when, you know, even aides will say you can tell that he is just like going through these briefing books looking for little things -- going and doing this meticulous details about the ammunitions they're sending to Ukraine, really getting in the weeds in ways that he doesn't always with other issues.
[…]
8:36 AM Eastern
MATTINGLY: You know, Astead, we’ve been talking earlier about how these are two men of a certain age—
ASTEAD HERNDON: Yeah.
MATTINGLY: -- who have kind of followed similar career trajectories, though very different on many levels. The issue of age is obviously one that kind of hangs over everything that President Biden does, as the oldest president in history, both this morning and tomorrow morning and the morning after that to some degree as well. But he was actually asked about this by Fareed Zakaria in the interview, the exclusive interview that Fareed had. I want you to take a listen to it.
HERNDON: Yeah.
[clip starts]
BIDEN: I think we're at an inflection point. I think the world is changing, and I think I -- there is one thing that comes with age if you've been honest about it your whole life, and that is some wisdom. I think we're on the cusp of being able to make significant positive changes in the world. Really, honest-to-god do.
[clip ends]
MATTINGLY: This is something that his advisers have kind of made clear behind the scenes, right? This is a double-edged sword. Yes, age is an issue, but experience matters, as well. And there's probably no place that he's demonstrated that experience matters more so than on the world stage.
HERNDON: Yeah.
MATTINGLY: What's your read on that?
ASTEAD: Absolutely. I mean, when I was looking at those images from London and thinking about him going to Lithuania for this summit, I was thinking about how this experience gives Biden the kind of unique ability to thread a really tough needle on this issue. And you've had kind of universal praise from him from the Democrats and I think some Republicans who have acknowledged that this is kind of a role that maybe only Biden could do.
And so, I think as we head into the election when age certainly to your point will be a concern, this is what the White House is going to try to pitch. That this is the positive of that age. That he has the experience, and that he has been able to show that, particularly on this issue. The question is whether voters are valuing that in the same type of way. You know, when we were talking to people about how they feel about Biden, there's no -- there wasn't dissatisfaction with his actions as president. It was a kind of implicit feeling that they felt like he was supposed to be a bridge to the next generation and maybe that, in running for re-election, that he's kind of breaking that promise. Right?
And so, that has nothing to do with the facts or the substance of his actions, and I think that that's what you're really going to see as the tension for the next year. There's a real benefit to experience, as they can specifically point to on something like Russia's war, but there's also going to be the question of whether voters are valuing that in the same way that the White House or diplomatic communities are, who have given him kind of universal praise for the tough line that he's walked on this issue.
MATTINGLY: Yeah, bridge got four years longer, to some degree.
ASTEAD: Yeah, yeah. The bridge is slightly getting bigger.
