FLASHBACK: Ex-Dem lawmaker supporting Biden invoked his dad’s age in 2019 attack on Biden’s stamina
CNN contributor Bakari Sellers suggested President Biden was too old to serve as president in 2019 before donating to his campaign in 2024 and defending his age.
A former Democrat lawmaker in South Carolina, who has donated thousands of dollars to President Biden's re-election campaign, warned about Biden's age in 2019 while supporting Vice President Kamala Harris's failed presidential campaign.
"Joe Biden has been running for president since before I was born," Bakari Sellers told Politico in 2019 while serving as a surrogate for the Harris campaign.
"Joe Biden is nearly 80 years old and he’s running to be president of the United States," Sellers said. "My dad was president of an HBCU and will be 75 this year and his doctors told him he couldn’t do it anymore."
Sellers, a CNN political analyst who formerly served in South Carolina's House of Representatives from 2006 to 2014, said his dad, who served for 7 years as the president of Voorhees College, a South Carolina historically black college, "didn’t have the energy and strength to lead that campus anymore." He went on to say it "doesn’t mean he wasn’t a great man and a great leader and a great visionary."
"It is a justifiable conversation," he continued.
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Sellers also took aim at presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over age concerns during the Democratic presidential primary in 2019.
"The three front-runners are all older than Ronald Reagan was when he took over," Sellers said. "Democrats are afraid of criticism, which is silly to me. But we are going to have a contentious primary on vigor and issues about fitness to be president."
Sellers, who donated $10,000 to the Biden Victory Fund and $6,600 to Biden's re-election campaign last year, making him a maxed-out donor, has repeatedly defended Biden against criticisms about his age in recent weeks, including this week when he said it was "patently absurd" to be having a discussion about a Parkinsons specialist visiting the White House.
On Thursday night, Sellers responded to Biden's hour-long press conference by posting on X that Biden was "doing well" and reposted a post from NBC analyst Vin Gupta, a doctor, defending Biden's press conference.
"[Biden] demonstrated tonight that he continues to function at a high-level for his age," Gupta said. "Yes, he had gaffes, which he’s been prone to throughout his career. Yet the substance was there after a series of tough questions, ably demonstrating breadth of experience. Strong performance."
"Biden would not only have to not run but he’d have to resign. Neither of which is happening," Sellers said last week. "Any article about his age that is absent the fact he’s accomplished bipartisan, put black woman on Supreme Court, brought economy back from brink after COVID is an emotional play. Because it’s clear even in his age he can do the job of POTUS."
One of Sellers' most notable defenses of Biden occurred less than an hour after the CNN debate between Biden and former President Trump.
"Biden ain’t going nowhere. It’s June. Let go of your pearls and dry your bed. He lost a debate. Bad. But it’s June. You’re not replacing him," Sellers posted on June 27 on X. "So leave your random combinations in your chats. You’re not nominating Gretch or Gavin or Wes over Kamala. Stop it. Organize. Vote. We are winning every swing state senate race and gubernatorial race (NC). Relax."
"Choice is Trump, Biden or couch. I choose Joe. Night. Night," he continued.
Fox News Digital reached out to Sellers for comment but did not receive a response..