Mitch McConnell says both Biden and Trump have an 'age issue' that will be 'front and center' in 2024

• The recent special counsel report raised questions about Biden's memory and age.
• But McConnell, who's slightly older than Biden, isn't making an issue out of it.

After a special counsel report spelled out concerns about President Joe Biden's age and memory, many Republicans immediately moved to make it an issue.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, along with other top House GOP leaders, issued a statement after the report declaring that the 81-year-old Biden was "certainly unfit for the Oval Office."

But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who turns 82 next week, isn't taking that stance — and is even suggesting that age will also be a concern for the 77-year-old former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

"The age issue is obviously front and center for both candidates," McConnell told CNN. "And I think they're going to argue about it."

On Friday, the special counsel release a report that did not recommend charges against Biden for mishandling classified documents. But the report stated that Biden couldn't recall the exact dates of his vice presidency and that he did not recall the year that his son Beau died.

The report also characterized the president as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

But in the days since the report, both Biden and Democratic lawmakers have forcefully pushed back, arguing that the report's characterization of Biden's memory was gratuitous.

Trump has seemingly faced lapses in memory in recent speeches, including confusing 2024 opponent Nikki Haley with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. And McConnell has had age-related issues of his own, including a spate of falls last year and two freeze-ups on camera.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York defended Biden during a CNN interview on Tuesday night, pointing to Trump's similarly old age.

"They could have gone to high school together," said Ocasio-Cortez.