Americans think Biden’s too old, Trump’s too corrupt, according to a new poll
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The oldest president in American history, currently age 80, President Joe Biden is seen as “too old” to be an effective president in a second term. At just three years younger, Donald Trump’s age raises significantly fewer concerns, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
Overall, 77% of Americans believe Biden is too old, including 69% of Democrats and 89% of Republicans. Just over half of American adults think Trump, at age 77, is too old to effectively serve another term, but this question splits strongly along partisan lines. Seventy-one percent of Democrats believe Trump is too old, but only 28% of Republicans do.
The poll broke down responses by age categories when answering the question about Biden’s age. Just over three-quarters (76%) of adults 18-29 think Biden is too old to be effective. Eighty-one percent of adults ages 30-44 think he is too old, while the strongest concerns come from adults 45-59. Eighty-three percent of adults in that age group think Biden is too old to serve another term, while adults over 60 are the least likely to think he is too old. Still, 71% of those adults think age is a factor.
Despite the apprehension about his age, more than 8 in 10 Democrats say they will probably or definitely support Biden if he is their party’s nominee.
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Word association
The poll also asked respondents to name the first word that came to mind when they thought of each candidate. More than a quarter (26%) cited Biden’s age and 15% used words associated with being slow or confused. The numbers were 1% and 3% for Trump.
However, nearly a quarter of those polled mentioned words associated with corruption, lying or untrustworthiness when thinking of Trump, while just 8% mentioned those traits when thinking of Biden.
Majorities support age limits
Two-thirds of the public supports setting age limits for the office of president, members of Congress and Supreme Court justices. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to favor age limits for presidents and Supreme Court justices, at 72% and 64%, respectively. However, the same shares of both Democrats and Republicans favor age limits on members of Congress — 71%.
While the oldest serving president, Biden is not the oldest politician in Washington, D.C. That distinction belongs to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is 90, followed closely by Sen. Chuck Grassley at 89 and both Sens. Bernie Sanders and Mitch McConnell at 81.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, the oldest member is Reps. Grace Napolitano and Bill Pascrell, both age 86, Reps. Hal Rogers and Maxine Waters at age 85, Rep. Steny Hoyer at 84 and Rep. Nancy Pelosi at age 83.
A 2022 YouGov poll reported that 58% of Americans want a maximum age for politicians.
Holly Richardson is the editor of Utah Policy.
