Biden is an old man. Age is cruel to a public figure, and sunglasses are a great masker of age. Check out Ringo Starr: The man is 82 years old, but, with a little bit of judiciously applied dye, his trim build, and his sunglasses, he looks like he could still be in a touring rock band. In photos with his son, he sometimes even looks as though he were the younger man. Bono in tinted glasses is your cool English professor; Bono without sunglasses is a prison guard in the Soviet gulag. Ozzy Osbourne in shades is ready to bark at the moon; Ozzy Osbourne without shades is Caitlyn Jenner with a wicked psilocybin hangover.
Presidents want to look youthful and vigorous, whatever their age or actual state of health. Biden is not what you’d call a sprightly 79, and his trademark aviators take a few years off.
In general, you want to run hard, fast, and for as long as you can when a politician starts getting serious about sunglasses. It never ends well.
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