White House Trump: 'I am a young, vibrant man'

President Donald Trump on Friday called himself “a young, vibrant man,” taking a dig at Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, who eclipse him in age by a few years.

“I think that I just feel like a young man,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn. “I'm so young. I can't believe it, I'm the youngest person.”


The 72-year-old president has said he anticipates taking on one of the two Democratic front-runners in the 2020 general election — Biden, who is 76, or Sanders, who is 77.

“They are all making me look young both in terms of age and, I think, in terms of energy,” Trump said to reporters. “I think you people know that better than anybody.”

All three white male septuagenarians, however, will likely appeal to overlapping segments of voters, competing to win over the blue-collar workers and other blocs that helped secure Trump’s victory in 2016. Trump hedged his comments on age, perhaps accounting for the possibility he faces off against one of the younger, more diverse candidates Biden and Sanders are battling for their party’s nomination.

“I am a young, vibrant man. I look at Joe, I don’t know about him,” Trump said. “I don’t know, I would never say anyone is too old.”

Biden on Thursday became the latest candidate to join the 20-person pool of Democrats vying for the White House. Trump advisers have said the president has expressed concerns that Biden poses the biggest threat to his reelection for his ability to connect with voters in Rust Belt states that were key to Trump's 2016 victory.

When asked about Biden on Friday, Trump said: “I think we beat him easily.”

The president turned attention back to himself on the White House lawn on Friday morning, ahead of his departure for Indianapolis to speak at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting, dubbing himself a “student of history” and lavishing other forms of self-praise throughout his gaggle with the press.

“If I’m guilty of anything,” Trump said in response to a question about the Mueller report, “it’s that I’m a great president. And the Democrats don’t like it, which is a shame.“