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 鈥� 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 president鈥檚 employers 鈥� the people 鈥� aren鈥檛 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 鈥� Democrats are far more likely to disqualify Trump by age than are Republicans.
What鈥檚 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, don鈥檛 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.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e too old overall,鈥� Burden said. That older generation represents 鈥渁 sense of values and sense of the country and the world that just isn鈥檛 accurate anymore. It can be dangerous to have that view.鈥�
Similarly, Greg Pack, 62, a past and possibly future Trump voter in Ardmore, Oklahoma, wishes Biden and Trump would both move along.
鈥淛ust watching and listening to Biden it鈥檚 pretty self-evident he is not what he was,鈥� said Pack, a registered nurse.
Trump? 鈥淗e is a lot sharper but at the end of his term, who knows?鈥� Pack said, contemplating January 2029. 鈥淚鈥檓 just ready for someone younger.鈥� He鈥檚 had about enough of a man who is 鈥渁ll about himself鈥� and is 鈥渨earing his indictments like a badge of honor,鈥� but if that鈥檚 who it takes to defeat Biden, so be it.
WHAT鈥橲 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 aren鈥檛 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 Biden鈥檚 age and an additional 15% used words such as 鈥渟low鈥� or 鈥渃onfused.鈥� One Republican thought of 鈥減otato.鈥� Among Democrats, Biden鈥檚 age was mentioned upfront by 28%. They preferred such terms over 鈥減resident,鈥� 鈥渓eader,鈥� 鈥渟trong鈥� or 鈥渃apable.鈥� One who approves of his performance nevertheless called him 鈥渟enile.鈥�
Only 3% in the survey came up with 鈥渃onfused鈥� as the first descriptor for Trump, and a mere 1% used 鈥渙ld鈥� or the like. Instead, the top words were those like 鈥渃orrupt鈥� or 鈥渃rooked鈥� (15%), 鈥渂ad鈥� and other generally negative terms (11%), words such as 鈥渓iar鈥� and 鈥渄ishonest鈥� (8%), along with 鈥済ood鈥� and other generally positive comments (8%).
Why the divergence between the two on public perceptions of their age?
鈥淏iden just seems to be very compromised by age-related conditions,鈥� said Eric Dezenhall, 60, a corporate scandal-management consultant who has followed Trump鈥檚 career and worked in Ronald Reagan鈥檚 White House. 鈥淓ven people who like him see him as being frail and not altogether 鈥榯here.鈥欌��
鈥淲hatever Trump鈥檚 negatives are, I don鈥檛 think most people see them as being related to being disabled in an age-related way,鈥� he said. 鈥淚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.鈥�
For Diego Saldana, 31, it hits close to home when he see Biden fumbling some words or taking halting steps.
鈥淚 see all the symptoms my grandpa had,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be ruling a country鈥� 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 鈥渙ld鈥� for Biden and 鈥渋ncompetent鈥� for Trump as his first-impression words. An independent who leans Democratic, he sounded a little embarrassed on the phone that the U.S. can鈥檛 do better than these two.
鈥淪heer optics,鈥� he said. 鈥淥lder gentlemen. You want your leaders, from a visual standpoint, to be spry and energetic. And we tend to fall short.鈥�
He views Trump, with all his hand gestures and animation, as 鈥渁 larger figure, a little more lively, just his personality. That gives him that energetic appearance.鈥� But Colwell is certainly not going there.
鈥淏iden was a good step to steady the water,鈥� he said. 鈥淏iden is more representative of the status quo and normalcy and that鈥檚 probably what drew everyone initially to him鈥� after the tumult of the Trump presidency.
鈥淣ow you have a return to stability. But in terms of moving forward and having any measurable change on my generation, we鈥檙e probably going to need younger leadership.鈥�
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. She鈥檚 convinced of it now and open to voting next year for someone else, just not Trump.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he鈥檚 done a terrible job in office,鈥� she said of Biden, 鈥渂ut I think that鈥檚 more because, as opposed to Trump, he surrounds himself with more experienced and logical people.鈥�
Not that she places great value in experience, except in foreign affairs. 鈥淒.C. is a swamp,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd the more experience you have, the more you sink into the swamp.鈥�
Said Jose Tapia, 33, a tech-company videographer in Raleigh, North Carolina, 鈥淭here鈥檚 got to be a multitude of younger people who are also super qualified. There鈥檚 no fresh faces at all.鈥�
Older Democrats are less negative than younger ones on Biden鈥檚 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 they鈥檒l at least probably support him if he鈥檚 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 public鈥檚 focus on it shortchanges the gift of wisdom and experience.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of the classic ageism that we鈥檝e been battling for the last 50 years,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he age of the individual is irrelevant. It鈥檚 the policies that they bring to the table that are important. And the number of times around the sun just doesn鈥檛 cut it as an important variable at all.鈥�
From observing both men from afar and examining their medical records, Olshansky regards Biden and Trump as likely 鈥渟uper agers鈥� despite signs of frailty from Biden and Trump鈥檚 excess weight.
鈥淏iden is likely to outlive Trump because he has fewer harmful risk factors and he does exercise quite notably, whereas Trump does not,鈥� he said. But overall, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e both functioning at a very high level.鈥�
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 like what they say,鈥� he added, 鈥渋t鈥檚 not because of how old they are. It鈥檚 because you don鈥檛 like what they say.鈥�
The poll of 1,165 adults was conducted Aug. 10-14, 2023, using a sample drawn from NORC鈥檚 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.
