Biden skewers Trump’s ‘old ideas’ as he defends own age in surprise appearance on Seth Meyers show

“It’s about how old your ideas are. Look, I mean, this is a guy who wants to take us back”

President Joe Biden made a surprise appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Monday and was faced with questions about his age, Gaza, all the way to the Taylor Swift conspiracy theory.

Seth Meyers donned a suit and tie as he welcomed the president, who was also a guest on the first-ever episode of the show, along with Amy Poehler, who also came back and introduced Mr Biden.

Meyers put forward a question to the 81-year-old president about his age, asking him how he can address many voter concerns over his seniority.

“Take a look at the other guy, he’s about as old as I am," said Mr Biden, who is less than four years older than 77-year-old Donald Trump.

"It’s about how old your ideas are. Look, I mean, this is a guy who wants to take us back," Mr Biden continued. “He wants to take us back on Roe v Wade. He wants to take us back on a whole range of issues that are – 50, 60 years, they’ve been solid American positions.”

Mr Biden may have appeared on the show, perhaps in a bid to appeal to younger voters, as this appearance not long comes after joining TikTok, an app predominantly associated with younger people, where his team has also been posting various internet trends and memes related to the president.

One in particular – the “Dark Brandon” meme – was bought up on the show, and Meyers asked Mr Biden if he liked it.

“No, I resent the hell out of it,” Mr Biden joked before proceeding to put on sunglasses.

Joe Biden spoke about Gaza during his appearance on ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’ (Late Night with Seth Meyers)

Aside from scrutinising Mr Trump’s ideas, Mr Biden also made a jab at him because “he can’t remember his wife’s name”.

While Mr Trump has been caught out for spelling his wife’s name wrong as ‘Melanie’ in the past, Mr Biden could possibly be referring to a recent speech Mr Trump made at the CPAC convention, where it appeared that he called Melania “Mercedes”.

The crowd at the convention gave the former First Lady a standing ovation after Mr Trump said that “people love” his wife.

“Oh, look at that Mercedes, that’s pretty good,” he said as the audience applauded.

Yet after the speech, Trump allies said that he was most likely referring to Mercedes Schlapp, the wife of the American Conservative Union chair and CPAC organiser Matt Schlapp, Forbes reported.

Ms Schlapp even posted on X that Mr Trump calling Melania ‘Mercedes’ was “Fake News at its finest”.

While some voters are concerned about Mr Biden’s old age, conspiracy theorists are more distressed over the wild claims that Taylor Swift is part of a secret government operation to reelect Mr Biden.

"Can you confirm or deny that there is an active conspiracy between you and Ms Swift?" Meyers asked.

"Where are you getting this information? It’s classified," Mr Biden replied jokingly, although he did add: "But I will tell you, she did endorse me in 2020.”

While Meyers set aside time to ask Mr Biden some comedic questions, he also pressed the president on calls for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

“Ramadan is coming up, and there’s been an agreement by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan, as well, in order to give us time to get all the hostages out,” Mr Biden said.

"I think if we get that temporary ceasefire, we’re going to be able to move in a direction where we can change the dynamic and not have a two-state solution immediately, but a process to get to a two-state solution," Mr Biden said.

While the president and Meyers took a trip to get a dessert after the show’s recording wrapped, Mr Biden was further questioned by reporters about a ceasefire while holding an ice cream cone.

“My hope is by next Monday, we will have a ceasefire,” he said to the reporters.

However, a Hamas official has told Reuters that Mr Biden’s words about a halt to fighting in Gaza are premature. The official said there were “still big gaps to be bridged”.