Over Three-Quarters of US Thinks Biden Is Too Old for Second Term: Poll
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An eye-popping 77% of Americans feel that US President Joe Biden is too old to effectively govern if he wins a second term in office, according to a new survey.
Misgivings about the octogenarian’s age were shared across the board, with 89% of Republicans concerned about Biden’s age hindering a second term and 69% of Democrats feeling the same way, per an AP-NORC poll released Monday.
When asked what words first came to mind when they thought of the president, 41% of respondents answered with some combination of “old,” “outdated,” “aging,” “elderly,” “slow,” “confused” and “bumbling,” The New York Post reported.
When asked the same question about former president Donald Trump, 23% answered “corrupt,” “criminal,” “crooked,” “liar,” “dishonest” and “untrustworthy.”
Only 51% of respondents felt that Trump’s age would prevent him serving a second term effectively, including 71% of Democrats and 28% of Republicans, the poll showed.
Biden would be 81 years old on Election Day 2024, while Trump would be 78.
Both men are far and away their party’s respective front-runners in the 2024 contest. But voters appear deeply despondent about the prospect of either man clinching a second term as commander-in-chief.
More than six in 10 Americans (62%) have an unfavorable view of Trump, while 52% say the same of Biden.
However, just 24% of respondents were eager to see Biden vie for a second term, compared to 30% for Trump, the poll said.
Questions of age have long haunted Biden, further exacerbated by a series of gaffes. In June, for example, Biden suggested his administration has plans to construct a “railroad from the Pacific all the way across the Indian Ocean.”
During an event last September, he called out for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), who had died in a car crash the previous month.
“It doesn’t register with me,” Biden told reporters about his age back in April. “But the only thing I can say is that one of the things that people are going to find out is, they’re going to see a race, and they are going to judge whether or not I have it or don’t have it.”
Biden has also acknowledged that questions about his age are a “legitimate concern” for voters.
Over the weekend, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), 81, came to the president’s defense on the issue.
“I met with the president, I don’t know, five or six weeks ago. We had a great discussion. He seemed fine to me,” Sanders — who will turn 82 Sept. 8 — told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
The poll was in the field before a Georgia grand jury indicted Trump Aug. 14 on 13 counts in connection with his attempts to overturn the 2020 election result in the Peach State.
Trump is also facing a 34-count indictment in Manhattan for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal hush-money payments, 40 federal counts of hoarding classified national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, and four federal counts of alleged illegal 2020 election subversion.
He has entered not guilty pleas in all three of those cases and is slated for arraignment in the Georgia case on Sept. 6.
Trump is the first former or current US president to face criminal charges and has strenuously denied wrongdoing.
The poll sampled 1,165 adults from Aug. 10 to 14 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.