Donald Trump’s age is also under the microscope.
As we face another likely rematch between President Biden and Donald Trump, a new poll revealed that a majority of voters think they’re both too old to serve second terms.
The two candidates are just four years apart in age (Biden is 81 and Trump is 77). But the president has been getting more scrutiny around his age amid Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report into his handling of classified documents, in which Biden was described as a “well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” And the survey, which was taken on Feb. 9 and Feb. 10, could be reflective of Americans’ reaction to Hur’s and other such descriptions of the president.
But are these concerns enough to replace Biden with another presidential nominee? Here’s a closer look at the latest findings, plus the odds of Democrats changing candidates.
Is Biden too old to be president again?
According to the ABC News/Ipsos poll, the answer seems to be a resounding yes. A whopping 86 percent of Americans think Biden is too old to serve, and 62 percent said the same of former President Trump. That includes 59 percent of those who think both he and the former president are too old. And to break it down a little further, 27 percent just said Biden is over the hill, while 3 percent said that of Trump. (In case you were wondering, the survey included 528 people across age demographics aged 18 or older.)
The poll also revealed some serious partisan differences in how voters view their nominees. For instance, 73 percent of Democrats think Biden is too elderly to return to office while only 35 percent of Republicans think the same of Trump.
That said, concerns for both candidates’ ages have increased since September, when an ABC News/Washington Post survey revealed that 74 percent of Americans thought Biden was too old to serve another term as president, compared to 49 percent for Trump.
What do Americans think of Biden’s handling of classified docs?
Voters in the newest survey were more divided about whether Biden should’ve been charged with a crime for his handling of classified docs, with 38 percent saying he should’ve been charged and 34 percent saying he shouldn’t have been charged. To put this into perspective, a separate June 2023 ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 48 percent of Americans think Trump should’ve been charged in his own handling of sensitive government material after leaving the White House, compared to 35 percent who thought he shouldn’t have been and 17 percent didn’t know.
When it came to Trump’s ongoing legal woes, public sentiment in the latest poll was more clear-cut — 66 percent of voters believe the former president shouldn’t be immune to criminal prosecution for actions he took while president. Now we might find out what the highest court in the land thinks: Trump’s team is expected to appeal a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit that ruled that the former president doesn’t have presidential immunity when it comes to his actions surrounding the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Is it too late to replace Biden as the likely Democratic nominee?
Even though Trump is no spring chicken, Biden’s age in particular has become a point of contention, causing some pundits to wonder if Democrats will end up finding another candidate. (It’s also worth noting that some of Biden’s naysayers, like former GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Ted Cruz, have been pushing the conspiracy theory that President Biden will be subbed out in favor of Michelle Obama, who’s repeatedly made it clear she has no political aspirations.)
But the question of replacing a nominee has come up in years past with other politicians. For instance, in 2016, then-interim Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile wrote in her memoir, Hacks, that she “nearly replaced” Hillary Clinton as the party’s nominee after she briefly collapsed at a Sept. 11 memorial service. Due to the lack of mechanisms in place to make such a move, Brazile ended up deciding against it.
Even if parties did have the ability to replace their nominee, it would be a daunting task for a new candidate to enter the race at this stage. Nearly 80 percent of filing deadlines for upcoming primaries have already come and gone, according to NBC News.
On the other hand, if Biden decided to end his own campaign (which doesn’t look likely), his replacement probably wouldn’t be able to win enough delegates. So far, his lone primary challenger, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips hasn’t won a single one.
Biden stepping down from office wouldn’t necessarily mean that he’d be so easily replaced, either. Though Vice President Kamala Harris would become president, she wouldn’t automatically become the Democratic Party’s nominee.
For now, don’t expect Biden to go anywhere as Democrats remain in full support of his reelection. “The Democratic Party is united in supporting President Biden, who will be his party’s nominee this fall and will make Donald Trump a loser a second time this November,” Biden campaign spokesperson Daniel Wessel told NBC News.
