According to a recent AP poll, about three-quarters (77%) of the American public believe that President Joe Biden is too old to effectively serve another term.
Surprisingly, this sentiment is shared by a majority of Democrats as well.
While Republicans are more likely (89%) to think Biden is too old, 69% of Democrats also hold this view.
The age concern is not limited to Biden alone.
Despite being only three years younger than Biden, former President Donald Trump is viewed as too old by only half of the respondents (51%).
Although a significant number of Democrats think Trump is also past his prime (71%), the percentage is considerably lower among Republicans (28%).
When participants were asked about the first word that comes to mind when they think of each candidate, 26% mentioned Biden’s age, and 15% associated him with words like slow and confused.
In contrast, only 1% and 3% used those terms for Trump, respectively.
Interestingly, concerns over Biden’s age cut across all age groups, with at least 70% of both younger and older adults viewing him as too old to effectively serve another term.
However, among Democrats, younger individuals view Biden’s age as a greater issue.
Seventy-seven percent of Democrats under the age of 45 believe he is too old to serve another term, compared to 62% of those over 45.
Opinions on whether Biden should seek reelection may also be influenced by views on his age.
Among those who believe Biden is too old to effectively serve as president, only 14% want to see him run again.
On the other hand, 60% of those who do not see age as an issue would like to see him seek a second term.
The poll also revealed that two-thirds of the public supports setting age limits for the President, members of Congress, and Supreme Court Justices.
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to favor age limits for presidents and Supreme Court Justices.
However, both Democrats and Republicans show similar levels of support for age limits on members of Congress.
The nationwide poll was conducted from August 10-14, 2023, using the AmeriSpeak Panel, which is a probability-based panel operated by NORC at the University of Chicago.
The poll included online and telephone interviews with 1,165 adults, using both landlines and cell phones.
The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.8 percentage points.
