Hannity: Media that hammered Reagan over his age ignoring Biden's missteps, gaffes

Fox News host Sean Hannity said on his syndicated radio show Monday that the mainstream media is purposefully ignoring obvious gaffes and other missteps from 77-year-old Joe Biden, despite hammering then-President Ronald Reagan over similar issues during the 1984 election

"The Sean Hannity Radio Show" host recounted numerous recent head-scratching moments from Biden, including a clip from a weekend rally in St. Louis.

"We cannot reelect -- we cannot win this reelection. We can only reelect Donald Trump," Biden said in a clip that made the rounds on Twitter. However, the social media company slapped Trump with a "manipulated media" warning, as Biden later added  that Trump could be reelected if "we get engaged in this circular firing squad here."

In another clip, Biden referred to himself as an "O'Biden-Bama Democrat" -- and Hannity reminded his audience how the former senator appeared to fumble his words and forget the clause "endowed by their Creator" while reciting part of the Declaration of Independence at an earlier event.

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"There is something that seems to be accelerating," Hannity said. "When I first noticed Biden getting into this whole thing, [it] looked like he had aged to me -- if he ever had a fastball it's gone. If he ever had a slow pitch it's done too."

Hannity said that during the 1984 race, Reagan, then 73, was being slammed by the media and by Democrats who claimed he was showing signs of early-onset dementia at age 73.

He said a Seattle newspaper had referred to him as "old," and other reports claimed that First Lady Nancy Reagan was "maneuvering" behind the scenes to hide signs of the president's alleged mental decline.

"The mob and the media back in the day, they raised all the questions everywhere -- it was like a mass diagnosis of Ronald Reagan," Hannity continued.

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However, Hannity said that Reagan was able to silence many of his critics with a now-iconic exchange with Baltimore Sun correspondent Henry Trewhitt during a debate -- playing the clip on his radio show.

Trewhitt alluded to questions about Reagan's health and age by noting that President John F. Kennedy got very little sleep during the Cuban Missile Crisis and saying that Reagan seemed tired after his previous debate with Democratic nominee Walter Mondale.

"Not at all. Mr. Trewhitt," Reagan said. "I want you to know also that I will not make age an issue of this campaign -- I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." Mondale was 56 at the time.

Turning back to Biden, Hannity reiterated that there has been no similar public questioning of his abilities while reiterating that he was not making any ageist claims and calling Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the "Energizer Bunny" compared to Biden despite suffering a heart attack late last year.

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