Most voters think Trump, Biden are too old to be president, poll suggests
A majority of Americans believe that the two leading candidates for president in 2024 — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump — are too old for the job.
A survey of 528 U.S. adults conducted by ABC News/Ipsos between Feb. 9 and 10 and released Sunday shows that 59% of respondents believe that both Biden, 81, and Trump, 77, are "too old" to carry out the presidential duties.
About a quarter (27%) of respondents think that only Biden is too old to serve another term, while 3% view only Trump as too old for the job.
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The remaining 11% believe neither Biden, a Democrat, nor Trump, a Republican, are too old to be president. The survey had a margin of error of +/-4.5 percentage points.
Broken down by partisan affiliation, the survey found that 62% of Republicans believe that only Biden is too old while disagreeing that Trump's age will impact his ability to do the job. Meanwhile, majorities of both Democrats (69%) and independents (70%) view both Biden and Trump as too old.
The poll comes as both men remain the overwhelming favorites to receive their respective parties' nominations in the 2024 presidential election.
The RealClearPolitics average of polls sampling the intentions of Republican primary voters, based on surveys taken since Jan. 25, shows Trump capturing 74.4% support compared to his 52-year-old opponent Nikki Haley's 17.9% as of Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, the RealClearPolitics average of polls examining the views of Democrat primary voters, based on surveys conducted since Dec. 26, shows Biden with 72.3% support. His much younger opponent, Dean Phillips, only has 3.8% support, while 6.5% of voters say they support 71-year-old Marianne Williamson, who has dropped out of the race.
Special Counsel Robert Hur released a report last week that declined to press charges against Biden. Although Hur's report states that Biden "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen," the White House has pushed back on the media's coverage of that part of the report as misleading.
While the report absolved Biden of criminal wrongdoing, it documented conversations the special counsel's office had with the president that raised questions about his mental fitness.
Reacting to the report, one of Biden's lesser-known Democrat primary challengers Cenk Uygur took to X, noting that the report stated that the president "did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended."
According to the report, Biden asked, "If it was 2013 — when did I stop being Vice President," and, "in 2009, am I still Vice President?" Uygur highlighted a finding from the report asserting that "he did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died."
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley highlighted the report's characterization of Biden as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." Reacting to what he described as Biden's "victory lap" responding to the fact that he would not face charges, Turley remarked, "the President is effectively pumping his chest and bragging 'I'm sympathetically diminished.'"
Concerns about the advanced age of political leaders in the U.S. precede the Hur report.
Rep. John James, R-Mich., introduced the RETIRE Resolution last year, which would amend the U.S. Constitution to declare that "No person may be elected to a term as President, Vice President, Senator, or Representatives in Congress if at any time during the term the person will be 75 years of age or older."
While the proposal is not expected to go anywhere as it has attracted no co-sponsors, it would prevent both Biden and Trump from serving another term as president if enacted.
In a statement announcing his introduction of the RETIRE Resolution and other measures included in a "DC Accountability Package," James declared, "The world isn't getting slower; it's getting faster."
"The world isn't getting safer; it's getting more dangerous. That's why it's essential that our government, elected officials, and administrative offices are firing on all cylinders," he added.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
