Age Is Not Just a Number for U.S. Voters

As millions of voters head to the polls in 15 states on Super Tuesday, everything looks set for a White House rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald J. Trump. With Biden turning 82 two week’s after the presidential election in November and Trump turning 78 this summer, the two would be the oldest presidential nominees in history. If re-elected Biden would extend his own record as the oldest sitting president, while Trump would surpass Ronald Reagan, who was 77 at the end of his presidency, as the second oldest man to hold the highest office in the United States.

Considering these numbers, it’s no surprise that voters have questions about the age and fitness of both candidates, with President Biden’s age and state of health a particular point of concern, even among democratic voters. Those concerns were amplified last month, when the special counsel investigating President Biden’s handling of classified documents from his time as vice president described him as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” in his report.

A new poll by The New York Times and Siena College reveals how big the concerns about Biden’s age really are, showing that 73 percent of registered voters believe that he is “just too old to be an effective president”, compared to 42 percent who think the same about Donald Trump. Even more strikingly, 61 percent of those who voted for Biden in 2020 believe he is too old now, along with 56 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 59 percent of those who would vote for Biden tend to agree that he is too old to be an effective president, but they have similar concerns about Trump.

As our chart shows, registered voters are more concerned about Biden’s age than they are about Trump’s with almost 50 percent of all respondents strongly agreeing that Biden is too old to be an effective president and another 26 percent somewhat agreeing. When it comes to Trump’s age, just 21 percent of registered voters strongly agree that he’s too old to be a good president with another 21 percent somewhat agreeing.