It’s Jill Biden’s fault

OPINION:

When an executive is asked to move to another city, what do they usually do before making that decision? When a senior manager is presented with a new opportunity requiring a substantial amount of time, who’s the first person they talk to? When an entrepreneur is looking to start a new business, what do they usually say?

“I need to discuss this with my family.”

Usually, this is meant to be the spouse unless the children are old enough to have input. A good spouse will help their significant other make the right decision. They will consider the impact of decisions on their families and others around them. My clients who are in good relationships often lean heavily on their spouse or partner for advice. They share what’s going on in their businesses. They appreciate and respect their counterpart’s opinions. They want each other to be happy. Good spouses have each other’s back. They make decisions as a team.

First Lady Jill Biden has been married to her husband for more than 40 years. They seem to have a very close relationship. They appear to love each other. She’s constantly by his side. She’s his No. 1 fan and his biggest supporter. She is a smart woman. And it’s her fault that President Biden is running for a second term.

Mr. Biden is clearly too old to be president. He shouldn’t be running for office. He should be in retirement. Imagine a CEO who at age 81 still wants to be CEO. Would their spouse tell them that this is a good idea? That this is beneficial for their health? Their relationship? Their family?

And what about their employees and partners and suppliers and customers? A company is a community that provides for people’s livelihoods. It needs a strong leader. Being a business owner or a CEO requires much responsibility and energy. Being president of the United States requires much more of that. A good spouse of an 81-year-old CEO who loves their significant other would tell them it’s time to step down for the good of their relationship, their family, and many others.

Jill Biden should be doing the same.

I see the way her husband looks to her for support. He leans on her. And she’s always by his side. She ushers him around from event to event. She props him up. She guides him on and off stages and in and out of rooms. She knows he’s an old man. She knows he’s too old for the job.

If Mrs. Biden had told her husband not to run for office, he would not have run for office. He would ultimately agree if she told him he was too old. When you’re a CEO, a business owner or president of the United States, you have a lot of people feeding you a lot of nonsense to further their agendas. A spouse is supposed to tell it like it is because their agenda dovetails with your agenda. Mr. Biden would listen to his wife because he loves her and knows his agenda is hers. He would listen to her because old men become needier and more reliant on their wives. We all see that.

But for some reason, Mrs. Biden doesn’t do this. She stands by while her husband is publicly abused. She sees him literally failing physically before her eyes. She knows that he’s doing the job of a much younger man, and he’s too old to do it. She’s seen him age exponentially while in office. She’s watched him slip on steps and fall off bicycles. She’s watched him mutter, stumble and look lost in front of audiences. And in this past week’s debate with Donald Trump, she watched him be humiliated by a man that they — and half the country — hates. But instead, she lets this happen.

Why doesn’t Mrs. Biden put an end to all of this? Why doesn’t she tell her husband to step down, retire, spend more time with her and enjoy their golden years together like any CEO would do at that age? She can easily do this, too. She can show him a vision of Joe Biden, the Democrat who saved the country from Mr. Trump in 2020 and now hands the reins to a younger leader. But she doesn’t. What is driving her to behave in such a selfish and senseless way?

I don’t know, and I’m not going to speculate. But what I do know is that President Biden is too old to be the CEO of any business, let alone the president of the United States. The country deserves — needs — a better candidate to run against former President Donald Trump. And the one person who can solve this problem is Jill Biden.

• Gene Marks runs The Marks Group, a financial and technology consulting firm near Philadelphia.