Americans are deeply skeptical about President Joe Biden’s mental capacity to serve a second term as he begins to make a serious case for his re-election.
According to a new NBC pollA total of 76 percent of voters have significant or moderate concerns that Biden, 81, is physically and mentally healthy to serve a second term as president.
A surprising 62 percent of voters in the survey say they have “major concerns” about Biden’s physical and mental health.
The poll reflects the mood on the campaign trail, as Biden’s aides are increasing the number of campaign events but also risking more embarrassing moments for the president.
This week, Biden’s staff struggled to explain why the president repeatedly referred to ailing European leaders as if they were still in power.
President Joe Biden (L) and former President Donald Trump (R)
Fourteen percent of Americans in the survey cite moderate concerns about Biden’s health and fitness and 13 percent share minor concerns. Only 11 percent of voters in the survey said they have no real concerns about the president.
Additionally, most Democrats are concerned about Biden, with 54 percent sharing significant or moderate concerns about his physical or mental ability to serve a second term.
Voters are less concerned about former President Donald Trump’s physical condition.
Forty-eight percent of voters in the survey cited significant or moderate concerns about him having the physical and mental health necessary to serve a second term.
Fifty-two percent of voters cited minor or no concerns about Trump’s physical fitness, including 35 percent who said they had no real concerns. Trump is 77 years old.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks after meeting with members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at their headquarters in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024.
US President Joe Biden speaks at a reception in recognition of Black History Month in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 6, 2024.
The survey of 1,000 registered voters was conducted from Jan. 26 to Jan. 30, before Biden’s confusion in speaking with two different world leaders who died before the events he remembered.
On Wednesday, Biden recalled a 2021 conversation with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl during a fundraising event in New York City. Kohl died in 2017.
On Sunday, Biden discussed a 2021 conversation with François Mitterrand, a French president who died in 1996.