BIDEN VS. TRUMP FUELS VOTERS DESIRE FOR PRESIDENTIAL AGE LIMITS: POLL
As the two oldest presidents in American history hold a rematch for the most powerful job in the world, many people are asking themselves 'Really? These two old guys again?' and an exclusive DailyMail.com poll shows these voters want a change.
President Joe Biden, 81, and former President Donald Trump, 78, would both be disqualified from participating in the presidential contest if the 1,000 likely voters who responded to the Daily Mail had their way.
The survey, conducted after Biden's freeze-ups and confused demeanor during his debate with Trump sparked concern among Democrats, found half of likely voters think there should be an age limit on running for president.
And the most popular choice for the age limit cutoff, perhaps unsurprisingly, would mean that Trump and Biden would have never been able to run for a first term.
The median age these respondents thought should be the cut off: 70-years-old.
Conversely, 29 percent of respondents said there should not be an age limit.
Another 18 percent said they don't know whether there should be a presidential age limit or not.
'The Biden-Trump debate looks to have been the straw that has broken the public’s back,' said pollster James Johnson, who conducted the Daily Mail survey.
'Americans have had enough of older candidates, and many are ready to put an age limit on the presidency of as low as 70 years old.'
'This is not just a view of the young: 43% of over-70s agree, and put the age limit at 75 – still markedly below Biden and Trump’s years,' Johnson said.
If inaugurated, Biden would be 82 at the time and Trump would be 78, far exceeding the age limit most popular with voters polled by Daily Mail.
For context, the median age of president's at the time of their inauguration is 55-years-old.
The youngest president to ever take office was Theodore Roosevelt at 42, after the assassination of President William McKinley.
If Biden wins the 2024 election, he will be nearly double that of Teddy Roosevelt when he took office in 1901.
Despite the country's long history with middle-aged leaders, voters have sent the oldest presidents in history to the White House in the last two presidential contests.
And their satisfaction with such decisions appears to be waning.
The voters polled by Daily Mail also revealed that they believe President Joe Biden should get a cognitive test and physical health check.
Over 70 percent of respondents said that Biden needs both a cognitive and physical health test.
Additionally, DailyMail.com's exclusive poll shows 60 percent of likely voters believe the president's health has gotten notably worse since the beginning of the year.
Out of the 1,000 likely voters, just 18 percent disagreed that he has gotten worse.
And 55 percent believe Biden has declined in the last month, the poll shows.
Recent reports provide anonymous accounts of stunning behavior from the octogenarian president.
New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi published a damning account of those in the president's inner circle who have been shocked by the extent of Biden's decline.
She reported that Democratic officials, activists and donors made their concerns clear with each other, but only in whispers.
Nuzzi said they did so amid fears that admitting everything was not fine would jeopardize the future of the country. That is because nobody wanted to be responsible for helping get a resurgent Trump re-elected for a second term.
One die-hard Democrat was stunned to realize Biden was too frail to make it through an entire White House reception, Nuzzi said.
The unnamed bigwig is then said to have realized that it may have been premature to dismiss theories about Biden's fitness for office as right-wing propaganda. Some of Joe Biden's friends and top supporters are also shocked at 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 aides.
The speculation and alarm over Biden's health has prompted huddles among Democrat strategists and lawmakers trying to plan a path forward to victory in November despite the party leader's condition.
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