The "gaffe machine" gets a tuneup: Biden stays surprisingly on message

During last year’s contentious presidential campaign, Trump tried to use Biden’s history of word-tripping to sow doubts about whether he was mentally sharp enough to be president. But Trump’s efforts were undercut by his own long record of outrageous statements and flagrant mistruths. If anything, Biden, who at 78 is the nation’s oldest president, is probably benefitting from Trump’s tumultuous four years in office, Stokes said. “The majority of Americans thought Trump was not just a bad president but a bad person,” she said. “I think those people are more tolerant of the less glib, less verbally astute ‘next president’ because of the contrast with Trump and because they think Biden is sincere and committed, wants to do a good job and cares about the country.” At this point, a lot of Americans attribute “good intentions, good qualities to Biden,” Stokes said, “and so they care less about the verbal mishaps and slips.”