When Joe Biden was a Democratic presidential candidate running for the party’s nomination four years ago, he pointed to his 36-year tenure in the Senate and his eight years as vice president to highlight his experience as a major asset for the Oval Office.
For voters who felt more comfortable with a steady hand versus the greener candidates in the Democratic primaries, Biden, despite being 77 years old at the time, fit the bill.
But as the 81-year-old Biden faces a tough reelection bid this year, a majority of voters believe he’s too old to effectively serve in the White House, and most of his supporters in the 2020 election also share a similar view, according to the latest New York Times/Siena College poll.
In the survey, 72% of likely voters either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed that Biden is too old to effectively serve in the White House. Among Democrats, 53% of respondents shared this sentiment, while 59% of likely voters who backed Biden in 2020 agreed with this view.
Among Biden’s 2020 supporters, roughly 40% said the president could effectively serve in office, according to the Times/Siena survey.
In comparison, 42% of likely voters either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed that the 77-year-old Trump is too old to effectively serve in office for a second term.
The wide gulf in feelings about both Biden and Trump over age is poised to become an even bigger issue ahead of the general election. Neither Biden nor Trump have secured their respective party nominations yet, but they are both the prohibitive favorites given their performances in the early-voting states.
It hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing, though.
A February special counsel’s report on Biden’s handling of classified materials didn’t recommend any charges for the president, but his memory was described as “hazy” and “poor” in the document — prompting the commander-in-chief to strongly push back against any fallout.
Fellow Democrats have encouraged Biden to ramp up his appearances and his campaign schedule, both to assuage jittery base voters and reassert the bully pulpit of the White House during a time when Americans are increasingly paying closer attention to the presidential race.
And while former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has yet to win a state against Trump in the GOP primaries, she has continued to make the case that she would represent a new generation of leadership within a party that for nearly a decade has been defined by the ex-president.
In a statement, Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said that recent polling “consistently overestimates Donald Trump while underestimating President Biden,” Politico reported.
“Whether it’s in special elections or in the presidential primaries, actual voter behavior tells us a lot more than any poll does and it tells a very clear story: Joe Biden and Democrats continue to outperform while Donald Trump and the party he leads are weak, cash-strapped, and deeply divided,” Tyler continued. “Our campaign is ignoring the noise and running a strong campaign to win — just like we did in 2020.”
