As the two oldest presidents in US history face off for the most powerful job in the world, many people are asking: “Really? These two old men again?” – and an exclusive DailyMail.com poll shows these voters want change.
President Joe Biden, 81, and former President Donald Trump, 78, would be disqualified from running in the presidential race if the 1,000 potential voters who responded to the Daily Mail have their way.
The poll, conducted after Biden’s blocking and confusing demeanor during his debate with Trump raised concerns among Democrats, found that half of likely voters think there should be an age limit for running for president.
And the most popular choice for the age limit, perhaps unsurprisingly, would mean that Trump and Biden would never have been able to run for a first term.
Half of the 1,000 likely voters surveyed by the Daily Mail said they believe there should be an age limit for running for president of the United States.
The median age that these respondents considered should be the limit: 70 years.
In contrast, 29 percent of respondents said there should be no age limit.
Another 18 percent said they don’t know whether there should be an age limit for president.
“The Biden-Trump debate appears to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said pollster James Johnson, who conducted the Daily Mail poll.
‘Americans are fed up with older candidates, and many are willing to put an age limit on the presidency as low as 70.’
“This is not just a youth view: 43% of those over 70 agree and put the age limit at 75, still markedly below the Biden and Trump years,” Johnson said.
If inaugurated, Biden would be 82 at the time and Trump 78, well above the most popular age limit among voters surveyed by the Daily Mail.
For context, the average age of presidents at the time of their inauguration is 55 years old.
President Biden, 81, struggled to clearly articulate his thoughts during last week’s presidential debate in Atlanta. His performance was so disappointing that Democratic lawmakers and strategists have been considering whether to replace him on the party’s ticket.
Half of all likely voters think there should be age limits for presidential elections. The average age respondents gave for the limit was 70.
Biden told a group of Democratic governors that they need to get more sleep and stop planning events after 8 p.m.
The youngest president to take office was Theodore Roosevelt, at age 42, after the assassination of President William McKinley.
If Biden wins the 2024 election, he will have nearly twice as much power as Teddy Roosevelt did when he took office in 1901.
Despite the country’s long history of middle-aged leaders, voters have sent the oldest presidents in history to the White House in the past two presidential elections.
And their satisfaction with such decisions appears to be declining.
Voters polled by the Daily Mail also revealed that they believe President Joe Biden should undergo a cognitive test and a physical health check.
More than 70 percent of respondents said Biden needs a test of both cognitive and physical health.
Additionally, DailyMail.com’s exclusive poll shows that 60 percent of likely voters believe the president’s health has worsened noticeably since the start of the year.
Of the 1,000 likely voters, only 18 percent disagree that things have gotten worse.
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The president looks down wearily during a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House on Wednesday.
And 55 percent believe Biden has declined in the past month, the poll shows.
Recent reports provide anonymous accounts of the octogenarian president’s astonishing behavior.
New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi published a blunt account of those in the president’s inner circle who are shocked by the magnitude of Biden’s decline.
He reported that Democratic officials, activists and donors expressed their concerns clearly to each other, but only in whispers.
Nuzzi said they did so amid fears that admitting all was not well would jeopardize the country’s future. That’s because no one wanted to be responsible for helping a resurgent Trump get re-elected to a second term.
One staunch Democrat was shocked to realize Biden was too frail to survive an entire White House reception, Nuzzi said.
President Joe Biden, from left, walks with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed and White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt. Reports have indicated that the president’s top advisers are isolating him from mid-level officials, raising concerns about his health.
The anonymous bigwig is said to have realized that it may have been premature to dismiss theories about Biden’s suitability for office as right-wing propaganda. Some of Joe Biden’s friends and top supporters are also shocked by his behavior and controlling inner circle.
According to anonymous sources close to the president who spoke to the outlet, the president is forgetting the names of old friends and is easily manipulated by close confidants like his wife and top advisers.
Speculation and alarm over Biden’s health have sparked meetings among Democratic strategists and lawmakers trying to plot a path to victory in November despite the party leader’s condition.
