As many within the Democratic party await President Joe Biden’s announcement about whether or not he will run for reelection, a new poll has found a majority of Americans don’t think he is the right age to run again.
The poll from Yahoo News/YouGov found that 68% of registered voters think an 82-year-old is “too old for another term” as president.
Biden’s age has long been criticized by his political opponents, most recently by former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination last month.
Haley took a shot at her former boss, former President Donald Trump, and Biden when she called for a mandatory “mental competency test” for politicians over the age of 75.
“In the America I see, the permanent politician will finally retire,” Haley said. “We’ll have term limits for Congress and mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.”
However, it isn’t just Republicans who feel Biden’s age is worrisome, as 48% of Democrats think it is a problem while only 34% disagree with the sentiment. Another 18% of Democrats said they weren’t sure if he was too old.
If Biden were to earn another term in office in 2024, he would be 82 on his second inauguration day and reach 86 by the end of his eighth year as president, something 71% of independent voters and 85% of Republicans thought was too old.
However, the poll also asked about Biden’s former rival in 2020, as Trump is only four years younger than the president and would be 78 on his second inauguration day and 82 when he leaves office.
When asked if Trump would be too old for another term, Democrats saw a 10-point swing, as 58% said Trump is too old for another term. Similarly, for Republicans, four years didn’t seem to bother them when the president is on the right, as only 32% said he would be too old, a 53-point difference compared to their thoughts on Biden.
The poll also found similar results to what Americans think about the president’s age as a Harvard CAPS-Harris poll from last month. The Harvard poll also found that 67% of Americans think Biden is showing he is too old to be president, let alone run for reelection.
More focused on Biden, the Harvard poll also found that 57% of registered voters have doubts when it comes to mental fitness of Biden.
The Yahoo News/YouGov poll found that 77% of voters were at least “slightly concerned” about Biden’s overall health, and 49% were “very concerned.”
Still, Biden has not made his intentions clear on whether or not he will gear up for a second campaign, leaving who will represent the Democratic party in 2024 up in the air.
The survey from Yahoo News/YouGov was conducted from Feb. 23-27 and included responses from 1,516 U.S. adults.
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