Is Joe Biden too old for presidency? Polls say yes as he fights the perception
President Joe Biden poses for selfies during the Congressional Picnic on the South Lawn of the White House in July. Credit: Getty Images / Chip Somodevilla
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden routinely jokes about his age in public appearances and at campaign fundraisers — that the Founding Fathers are old friends, or that he’s 270 years old, but doesn’t look a day over 29.
But behind those punchlines are polls showing his age is a major concern for voters.
Two recent national polls show Biden, who turns 81 on Monday, trailing former President Donald Trump in critical battleground states.
Trump himself is 77, but concerns about his age and agility are less pronounced in polls. Even so, political analysts say if there's a rematch in 2024, both candidates will have to answer questions about their ability to handle the taxing demands of the job well into their 80s.
“At that age, one infection could land you in the hospital,” said Farmingdale State University political science professor Christopher Malone. “People at that age have a compromised immune system. Anything can happen.”
Biden, the oldest sitting president, has sought to frame his age as an asset, telling MSNBC in May: “I have acquired a hell of a lot of wisdom and know more than the vast majority of people.”
Nonetheless, nearly three-quarters of registered voters surveyed in a New York Times/Siena College poll released last week said they believed Biden was too old to be president. Seventy-one percent said Biden was too old to run, while 39% said the same of Trump.
The poll of 3,662 registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin found Biden trailing Trump in five of those six key battleground states Biden won in 2020.
Biden supporters have characterized the survey, conducted Oct. 22-Nov. 3, as only a snapshot and argued there was plenty of time to turn the numbers around before next year's election.
But the poll results prompted some prominent Democrats such as David Axelrod, who was an adviser to former President Barack Obama, to raise alarms about Biden’s reelection bid.
“Only @JoeBiden can make this decision," Axelrod posted on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. “If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it's in HIS best interest or the country's?”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a Biden ally, told CNN he was “concerned before these polls, and I'm concerned now.”
Blumenthal continued: “These presidential races over the last couple of terms have been very tight. No one is going to have a runaway election here. It's going to take a lot of hard work, concentration, resources. And so we have our work cut out for us.”
A CNN poll released last Tuesday also showed Trump leading Biden 49% to 45%. Only a quarter of respondents said Biden had the sharpness and stamina to serve effectively as president, compared with 53% who said Trump did.
Asked last Thursday about that poll and the Times/Siena College survey, Biden told reporters at the White House the polls didn't reflect others he has viewed that show him ahead.
“There are 10 polls ― eight of them, I'm beating him in those states,” Biden said.
Former Long Island Rep. Steve Israel, a Democrat who served as an adviser to Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, told Newsday he wasn't worried about the new poll results because “a year is an eternity in politics.”
Israel said he believed Biden’s age would become less of an issue once it becomes clear Trump is the GOP nominee. Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination, but GOP hopefuls such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley continue to wage primary bids.
“While it may be true that people are talking about President Biden's age, they also understand the ramifications of a second Trump administration,” Israel said.
Israel pointed to Democratic election victories last Tuesday in the battleground states of Ohio and Virginia and the red state of Kentucky as evidence voters are aligned with Biden on issues such as abortion rights.
“The strategic imperative for the Biden campaign is not to defend the president's age, which cannot be done, but to create the contrast between this president and Donald Trump on issues that matter to voters,” Israel said.
Trump has made missteps that critics attribute to his age or health. At a recent campaign stop in Iowa he forgot what city he was in as he addressed a rally, telling the Sioux City audience he was thankful to be in Sioux Falls, which is in South Dakota. During testimony in his civil trial in Manhattan last week Trump said he was in office in 2021, before an assistant state attorney general reminded him he had left office in January of that year.
Dan Schnur, communications director for the late Sen. John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign, told Newsday age appears less of a detriment for Trump than Biden because Trump “tends to display more energy and voters pick up on that.”
Schnur, a political communications professor at the University of Southern California, said “the other thing worth noting is that Trump's supporters are much more fervent in their support for him. That higher level of emotional commitment may make it easier for Trump’s supporters to look past his age … ”
Michael Dawidziak, a Bohemia-based campaign strategist who worked on the late George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign, said Bush, who was elected at age 64, pushed back against questions about his age by inviting reporters along as he biked, jogged and sailed while on vacation.
Dawidziak suggested Biden, who frequently rides his bicycle on weekends in Delaware, needed to show more “vitality” to combat images of him tripping going down the stairs of Air Force One in September, or stumbling on the stage of an U.S. Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in June after tripping on a sandbag.
“In politics there is a saying: 'It's very nice for reality and perception to meet, but if you have to have a choice, you'll take perception every time.' So in many cases, it's about perception. Right now the perception is that he's aging and getting frailer … he has to change that perception around,” Dawidziak said.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden routinely jokes about his age in public appearances and at campaign fundraisers — that the Founding Fathers are old friends, or that he’s 270 years old, but doesn’t look a day over 29.
But behind those punchlines are polls showing his age is a major concern for voters.
Two recent national polls show Biden, who turns 81 on Monday, trailing former President Donald Trump in critical battleground states.
Trump himself is 77, but concerns about his age and agility are less pronounced in polls. Even so, political analysts say if there's a rematch in 2024, both candidates will have to answer questions about their ability to handle the taxing demands of the job well into their 80s.
“At that age, one infection could land you in the hospital,” said Farmingdale State University political science professor Christopher Malone. “People at that age have a compromised immune system. Anything can happen.”
Biden, the oldest sitting president, has sought to frame his age as an asset, telling MSNBC in May: “I have acquired a hell of a lot of wisdom and know more than the vast majority of people.”
Warning signs in new polls
Nonetheless, nearly three-quarters of registered voters surveyed in a New York Times/Siena College poll released last week said they believed Biden was too old to be president. Seventy-one percent said Biden was too old to run, while 39% said the same of Trump.
The poll of 3,662 registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin found Biden trailing Trump in five of those six key battleground states Biden won in 2020.
Biden supporters have characterized the survey, conducted Oct. 22-Nov. 3, as only a snapshot and argued there was plenty of time to turn the numbers around before next year's election.
But the poll results prompted some prominent Democrats such as David Axelrod, who was an adviser to former President Barack Obama, to raise alarms about Biden’s reelection bid.
“Only @JoeBiden can make this decision," Axelrod posted on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. “If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it's in HIS best interest or the country's?”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a Biden ally, told CNN he was “concerned before these polls, and I'm concerned now.”
Blumenthal continued: “These presidential races over the last couple of terms have been very tight. No one is going to have a runaway election here. It's going to take a lot of hard work, concentration, resources. And so we have our work cut out for us.”
A CNN poll released last Tuesday also showed Trump leading Biden 49% to 45%. Only a quarter of respondents said Biden had the sharpness and stamina to serve effectively as president, compared with 53% who said Trump did.
Asked last Thursday about that poll and the Times/Siena College survey, Biden told reporters at the White House the polls didn't reflect others he has viewed that show him ahead.
Biden: I'm ahead in battleground states
“There are 10 polls ― eight of them, I'm beating him in those states,” Biden said.
Former Long Island Rep. Steve Israel, a Democrat who served as an adviser to Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, told Newsday he wasn't worried about the new poll results because “a year is an eternity in politics.”
Israel said he believed Biden’s age would become less of an issue once it becomes clear Trump is the GOP nominee. Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination, but GOP hopefuls such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley continue to wage primary bids.
“While it may be true that people are talking about President Biden's age, they also understand the ramifications of a second Trump administration,” Israel said.
Israel pointed to Democratic election victories last Tuesday in the battleground states of Ohio and Virginia and the red state of Kentucky as evidence voters are aligned with Biden on issues such as abortion rights.
“The strategic imperative for the Biden campaign is not to defend the president's age, which cannot be done, but to create the contrast between this president and Donald Trump on issues that matter to voters,” Israel said.
Critics cite Trump forgetfulness
Trump has made missteps that critics attribute to his age or health. At a recent campaign stop in Iowa he forgot what city he was in as he addressed a rally, telling the Sioux City audience he was thankful to be in Sioux Falls, which is in South Dakota. During testimony in his civil trial in Manhattan last week Trump said he was in office in 2021, before an assistant state attorney general reminded him he had left office in January of that year.
Dan Schnur, communications director for the late Sen. John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign, told Newsday age appears less of a detriment for Trump than Biden because Trump “tends to display more energy and voters pick up on that.”
Schnur, a political communications professor at the University of Southern California, said “the other thing worth noting is that Trump's supporters are much more fervent in their support for him. That higher level of emotional commitment may make it easier for Trump’s supporters to look past his age … ”
Michael Dawidziak, a Bohemia-based campaign strategist who worked on the late George H.W. Bush’s presidential campaign, said Bush, who was elected at age 64, pushed back against questions about his age by inviting reporters along as he biked, jogged and sailed while on vacation.
Dawidziak suggested Biden, who frequently rides his bicycle on weekends in Delaware, needed to show more “vitality” to combat images of him tripping going down the stairs of Air Force One in September, or stumbling on the stage of an U.S. Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in June after tripping on a sandbag.
“In politics there is a saying: 'It's very nice for reality and perception to meet, but if you have to have a choice, you'll take perception every time.' So in many cases, it's about perception. Right now the perception is that he's aging and getting frailer … he has to change that perception around,” Dawidziak said.
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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