Eighty-year-old President Joe Biden’s age is a worry for Democrats, polling that specifically asked voters about their views on his advanced years shows.
The Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll was conducted for Newsweek. It found a majority of Democrats said they were “concerned” about Biden’s ability to perform his job given the fact he now qualifies as an octogenarian.
Biden is the oldest serving president in U.S. history and if he is re-elected in 2024 and serves a full term, he would be 86 when leaving the White House in 2029.
Already his propensity for stumbles – physically and verbally – on the world stage worry those who see him as unfit to seek a return next year.
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The outlet reports the exclusive polling found while a majority of Biden voters were concerned about the president age, there was even greater division about whether his age should rule him out of seeking a return to high office.
The Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey informed respondents that the president is 80 and asked:
To what extent, if at all, are you concerned about President Biden’s ability to discharge his duties in office given his age?
Among the 609 Democrats polled, 21 percent said they were very concerned, 23 percent said they were fairly concerned and 31 percent said they were slightly concerned – a total of 75 percent.
A further 22 percent said they were not at all concerned about Biden’s age affecting his ability to do his job, while three percent responded “don’t know.”
President Joe Biden is helped up after falling during the graduation ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy, just north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, on June 1, 2023. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. President Joe Biden falls off his bicycle following a ride at Gordon’s Pond State Park in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on June 18, 2022. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty)
Among all likely voters polled by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, 44 percent said they were concerned about Biden’s age affecting his ability to do his job, 17 percent were fairly concerned and 21 percent were slightly concerned. A further 14 percent were not concerned at all and 3 percent answered “don’t know.”
The poll also asked respondents to what extent they agreed or disagreed with the statement:
President Biden is too old to seek a second term as President of the United States.
Twenty percent of Democrats said they strongly agreed with that statement, while 22 percent said they agreed with it – a total of 42 percent.
However, 14 percent of Biden voters said they disagreed and 17 percent said they strongly disagreed for a total of 31 percent, while 24 percent said they neither agreed or disagreed and 2 percent responded “don’t know.”
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White House
Forty-three percent of all likely voters strongly agreed that Biden was too old to seek a second term, while 19 percent agreed and 18 percent neither agreed nor disagreed.
A further eight percent disagreed that he was too old, while 9 percent strongly disagreed and 3 percent of respondents answered “don’t know.”
The Newsweek polling is not the first time Biden has sparked doubts about his ability to do his job with his own staff working to negate doubts about his suitability.
Eighty-year-old President Joe Biden’s health and age “severely limit” his ability to discharge his duties even as he readies to run again in 2024, nearly half of independent voters say in a poll released Wednesday. https://t.co/AO0VQM5dyl
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) June 8, 2023
Three NBC news reporters – Carol E. Lee, Peter Nicholas and Monica Alba – had a piece published last month detailing a host of modifications to Biden’s day-to-day scheduling designed to limit the possibility of him failing to deliver in public. They noted:
Joe Biden’s aides realized they had a problem last month when the president tripped over a sandbag — hard — at the Air Force Academy’s graduation ceremony. Afterward, a few huddled to figure out what may have gone wrong and how to make sure that such an embarrassing and dangerous incident “never happens again,” according to two people familiar with the discussion.
“You can’t be too careful,” one said.
The piece does note Biden has previously addressed concerns his age is a factor against him, simply offering “Watch me” by way of confident response.
The public evidence of his age works against such confidence, with the piece going on to state, “His gait is less steady, his speech not as fluid. He has confused Iraq with Ukraine and Rolling Fork, Mississippi, with ‘Rolling Stone’.”
At other times he simply has problems identifying fellow public figures.
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