Americans actually agree on something in this time of raw discord: Joe Biden is too old to be an effective president in a second term. Only a few years his junior, Donald Trump raises strikingly less concern about his age.
But they have plenty of other problems with Trump, who at least for now far outdistances his rivals for the Republican nomination despite his . Never mind his advanced years B次元官网网址� if anything, some say, the 77-year-old ought to grow up.
A new poll from finds much of the public oddly united in sizing up the one trait Biden cannot change.
The president has taken to raising the age issue himself, with wisecracks, as if trying to relax his audiences about his 80 trips around the sun.
Age discrimination may be banned in the workplace but the presidentB次元官网网址檚 employers B次元官网网址� the people B次元官网网址� arenB次元官网网址檛 shy about their bias.
In the poll, fully 77% said Biden is too old to be effective for four more years. Not only do 89% of Republicans say that, so do 69% of Democrats. That view is held across age groups, not just by young people, though older Democrats specifically are .
In contrast, about half of U.S. adults say Trump is too old for the office, and here the familiar partisan divide emerges B次元官网网址� Democrats are far more likely to disqualify Trump by age than are Republicans.
WhatB次元官网网址檚 clear from the poll is that Americans are saying out with the old and in with the young, or at least younger.
Democrats, Republicans and independents want to sweep a broad broom through the halls of power, imposing age limits on the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court. In all about two-thirds of U.S. adults back an age ceiling on candidates for president and Congress and a mandatory retirement age for justices.
Specifically, 67% favor requiring Supreme Court justices to retire by a certain age, 68% support age ceilings for candidates for House and Senate, and 66% support age ceilings for candidates for president.
With elders mostly running the show and the Constitution to contend with, donB次元官网网址檛 expect that to happen any time soon.
Even so, the survey suggests are open to seeing a younger face, a fresher one, or both, capture the public imagination.
Among them is Noah Burden, a 28-year-old communications consultant in Alexandria, Virginia. Despite a clear preference for Biden over Trump, he wishes the top contenders for the presidency were closer to his generation.
B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e too old overall,B次元官网网址� Burden said. That older generation represents B次元官网网址渁 sense of values and sense of the country and the world that just isnB次元官网网址檛 accurate anymore. It can be dangerous to have that view.B次元官网网址�
Similarly, Greg Pack, 62, a past and possibly future Trump voter in Ardmore, Oklahoma, wishes Biden and Trump would both move along.
B次元官网网址淛ust watching and listening to Biden itB次元官网网址檚 pretty self-evident he is not what he was,B次元官网网址� said Pack, a registered nurse.
Trump? B次元官网网址淗e is a lot sharper but at the end of his term, who knows?B次元官网网址� Pack said, contemplating January 2029. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 just ready for someone younger.B次元官网网址� HeB次元官网网址檚 had about enough of a man who is B次元官网网址渁ll about himselfB次元官网网址� and is B次元官网网址渨earing his indictments like a badge of honor,B次元官网网址� but if thatB次元官网网址檚 who it takes to defeat Biden, so be it.
WHATB次元官网网址橲 YOUR WORD?
The AP-NORC survey went beyond posing questions and presenting choices. It also had a word association exercise, asking people to offer the first word or phrase that comes to mind at the mention of each man.
The answers underscored how age is a particular drag for Biden across party lines, even when people arenB次元官网网址檛 prompted to think about that, and how Trump largely escapes that only to draw disdain if not disgust on other fronts.
In those visceral responses, 26% mentioned BidenB次元官网网址檚 age and an additional 15% used words such as B次元官网网址渟lowB次元官网网址� or B次元官网网址渃onfused.B次元官网网址� One Republican thought of B次元官网网址減otato.B次元官网网址� Among Democrats, BidenB次元官网网址檚 age was mentioned upfront by 28%. They preferred such terms over B次元官网网址減resident,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渓eader,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渟trongB次元官网网址� or B次元官网网址渃apable.B次元官网网址� One who approves of his performance nevertheless called him B次元官网网址渟enile.B次元官网网址�
Only 3% in the survey came up with B次元官网网址渃onfusedB次元官网网址� as the first descriptor for Trump, and a mere 1% used B次元官网网址渙ldB次元官网网址� or the like. Instead, the top words were those like B次元官网网址渃orruptB次元官网网址� or B次元官网网址渃rookedB次元官网网址� (15%), B次元官网网址渂adB次元官网网址� and other generally negative terms (11%), words such as B次元官网网址渓iarB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渄ishonestB次元官网网址� (8%), along with B次元官网网址済oodB次元官网网址� and other generally positive comments (8%).
Why the divergence between the two on public perceptions of their age?
B次元官网网址淏iden just seems to be very compromised by age-related conditions,B次元官网网址� said Eric Dezenhall, 60, a corporate scandal-management consultant who has followed TrumpB次元官网网址檚 career and worked in Ronald ReaganB次元官网网址檚 White House. B次元官网网址淓ven people who like him see him as being frail and not altogether B次元官网网址榯here.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲hatever TrumpB次元官网网址檚 negatives are, I donB次元官网网址檛 think most people see them as being related to being disabled in an age-related way,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚n fact, the more you throw at him, the more he seems like a ranting toddler. Disturbing, sure, but elderly? Not necessarily. Trump has been ranting this way for almost eight decades, and it always drives him forward.B次元官网网址�
For Diego Saldana, 31, it hits close to home when he see Biden fumbling some words or taking halting steps.
B次元官网网址淚 see all the symptoms my grandpa had,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淵ou canB次元官网网址檛 be ruling a countryB次元官网网址� that way. His granddad now is 94. Saldana supports Trump despite hesitancy over the criminal charges against him.
Eric Colwell, 34, an audit manager in Sacramento, California, came up with B次元官网网址渙ldB次元官网网址� for Biden and B次元官网网址渋ncompetentB次元官网网址� for Trump as his first-impression words. An independent who leans Democratic, he sounded a little embarrassed on the phone that the U.S. canB次元官网网址檛 do better than these two.
B次元官网网址淪heer optics,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淥lder gentlemen. You want your leaders, from a visual standpoint, to be spry and energetic. And we tend to fall short.B次元官网网址�
He views Trump, with all his hand gestures and animation, as B次元官网网址渁 larger figure, a little more lively, just his personality. That gives him that energetic appearance.B次元官网网址� But Colwell is certainly not going there.
B次元官网网址淏iden was a good step to steady the water,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淏iden is more representative of the status quo and normalcy and thatB次元官网网址檚 probably what drew everyone initially to himB次元官网网址� after the tumult of the Trump presidency.
B次元官网网址淣ow you have a return to stability. But in terms of moving forward and having any measurable change on my generation, weB次元官网网址檙e probably going to need younger leadership.B次元官网网址�
Alyssa Baggio, 32, is a Democratic-leaning independent in Vancouver, Washington, who works as a recruitment specialist for a homebuilder. She thought Biden was too old for the presidency before he started it. SheB次元官网网址檚 convinced of it now and open to voting next year for someone else, just not Trump.
B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 think heB次元官网网址檚 done a terrible job in office,B次元官网网址� she said of Biden, B次元官网网址渂ut I think thatB次元官网网址檚 more because, as opposed to Trump, he surrounds himself with more experienced and logical people.B次元官网网址�
Not that she places great value in experience, except in foreign affairs. B次元官网网址淒.C. is a swamp,B次元官网网址� she said, B次元官网网址渁nd the more experience you have, the more you sink into the swamp.B次元官网网址�
Said Jose Tapia, 33, a tech-company videographer in Raleigh, North Carolina, B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 got to be a multitude of younger people who are also super qualified. ThereB次元官网网址檚 no fresh faces at all.B次元官网网址�
Older Democrats are less negative than younger ones on BidenB次元官网网址檚 decision to run again. In the poll, only 34% of Democrats under 45 want him running for reelection, compared with 54% of those older. Still, about three-quarters of younger Democrats say theyB次元官网网址檒l at least probably support him if heB次元官网网址檚 the nominee; others did not commit to that.
RESPECT YOUR ELDERS
All of this is dispiriting to S. Jay Olshansky, a public-health professor and aging expert at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He thinks age, when sizing up a presidential candidate, is no more relevant than eye color and the publicB次元官网网址檚 focus on it shortchanges the gift of wisdom and experience.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 sort of the classic ageism that weB次元官网网址檝e been battling for the last 50 years,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭he age of the individual is irrelevant. ItB次元官网网址檚 the policies that they bring to the table that are important. And the number of times around the sun just doesnB次元官网网址檛 cut it as an important variable at all.B次元官网网址�
From observing both men from afar and examining their medical records, Olshansky regards Biden and Trump as likely B次元官网网址渟uper agersB次元官网网址� despite signs of frailty from Biden and TrumpB次元官网网址檚 excess weight.
B次元官网网址淏iden is likely to outlive Trump because he has fewer harmful risk factors and he does exercise quite notably, whereas Trump does not,B次元官网网址� he said. But overall, B次元官网网址渢heyB次元官网网址檙e both functioning at a very high level.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚f you donB次元官网网址檛 like what they say,B次元官网网址� he added, B次元官网网址渋tB次元官网网址檚 not because of how old they are. ItB次元官网网址檚 because you donB次元官网网址檛 like what they say.B次元官网网址�
The poll of 1,165 adults was conducted Aug. 10-14, 2023, using a sample drawn from NORCB次元官网网址檚 probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
