Considering that Joe Biden, who is already the oldest sitting president ever in the United States, will turn 82 in November and his designated challenger Donald Trump just turned 78, age was always going to be an issue in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election. After last week's debate, however, during which President Biden looked every bit his age, the discussion over Biden's fitness to run a successful re-election campaign, let alone serve another four-year term has taken on a new dynamic. Even among rank-and-file democrats, anxiety over Biden's health and his re-election prospects is growing, even though the party's leadership is trying to present a united front in support of the president.
A new poll by The New York Times and Siena College reveals how big the concerns about Biden’s age really are, showing that 74 percent of registered voters believe that he is “just too old to be an effective president”, compared to 43 percent who think the same about Donald Trump. Even more strikingly, 62 percent of those who voted for Biden in 2020 believe he is now too old, along with 59 percent of those who identified as supporters of the Democratic Party. That doesn’t necessarily mean people won’t vote for him though, as even 58 percent of those who would vote for Biden in 2024 tend to agree that he is too old to be an effective president, as they have similar (and other) concerns about Trump.
As our chart shows, registered voters are significantly more concerned about Biden’s age than they are about Trump’s with more than 50 percent of all respondents strongly agreeing that Biden is too old to be an effective president and another 21 percent somewhat agreeing. When it comes to Trump’s age, just 22 percent of registered voters strongly agree that he’s too old to be a good president with another 21 percent somewhat agreeing.
