South Carolina Democrat governor candidate Cunningham says Biden too old to run again in 2024

Democratic candidate for South Carolina governor and former congressman Joe Cunningham said Thursday that President Joe Biden should refrain from running for another term due to old age.

Cunningham, who recently released a video ad expressing his support for age-restricted term limits in government, was asked on CNN's "New Day" whether he believes Biden, who is 79, is too old to run again.

"Yeah, I think we need to have a new generation of leadership emerge," he said. "Democrats have a very deep bench, and it’s time to allow a new generation to emerge and new talent.

He said his argument wasn't a personal attack but pointed out Biden would be 82 by the time of the next election and 86 if he served a full second term.

"I’m not sure if any of us know any 86-year-olds who should be running the entire country," he Cunningham said.

"New Day" host John Berman pressed Cunningham on the issue, asking him the Biden endorsement in 2018 that helped him win in a congressional district controlled for decades by Republicans.

"How do you think he’s gonna feel about you coming out this morning and saying he shouldn’t run for reelection?" asked Berman, referring to the president.

"This isn’t about where we are right now, this is looking to the future. And we’re, you know, like I said, he himself said he wants to be a bridge to the future. And again, we’re in this car, we’re driving across this bridge, and no one knows what’s on the other side. And that’s the conversation we need to be having right now," Cunningham replied.

He was then asked whether South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, who serves as House majority whip and is 81 years old, should retire. 

"The point that I’m making, if you’re too old to interpret the law, are you not too old to be making the law?" he said, referring to the fact that South Carolina state law requires judges to retire at age 72.