Nearly half of potential voters believe Donald Trump is too old to be president, although significantly more believe the same about President Joe Biden, according to a poll.
A Reuters/Ipsos survey of 1,250 adults showed 48 percent of people think that the 77-year-old Republican, who is heavily expected to clinch the GOP 2024 candidacy, is too old to work in government, which includes 33 percent of Republicans, with a total of 56 percent believing that Trump should not run for president again.
In yet another poll suggesting that voters are dissatisfied with their potential choice of candidates in 2024, nearly three-quarters (74 percent) believe that the 81-year-old president is too old to work in government, and that 70 percent do not think that Biden should run for office again.
More than two-thirds of potential voters (67 percent) say they are tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections, with 18 percent suggesting they are unlikely to vote in November's election if the two main candidates are Biden and Trump.
Concerns about the age and cognitive abilities of Trump and Biden as they both seek a second term in office have been raised throughout the campaign trial.
Despite the scrutiny about both candidates, the Ipsos/Reuters polls show Trump beating Biden in a hypothetical face in the 2024 Election (40 - 34 percent).
Trump has frequently dismissed concerns about his mental ability, including stating how he passes cognitive tests while suggesting Biden is lacking in mental sharpness due to the president's proneness to gaffes in public speaking.
Trump has recently faced questions about his own cognitive abilities after he appeared to confuse his last remaining serious challenger in the GOP primary, Nikki Haley, with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a campaign event, as well as suggesting former Democratic president Barack Obama was still in office.
During a campaign rally in Las Vegas on Saturday, Trump boasted about how he passed a test, believed to be the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which is used to detect cognitive impairment or signs of decline such as dementia.
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment can involve being asked to repeat five words immediately, and then asked to repeat them again after some time has passed, as well as identifying animals and drawing the hands on a clock to make it show a certain time.
"You'd be amazed at how many people would fail it," Trump told the crowd. "There's only about two percent in this room who can do it. But I did it, very easily."
Trump also told a crowd of his supporters that he is "sharper now than I did 20 years ago," pushing off concerns about his mental state.
Trump's office has been contacted for comment via email.
In an interview with Fox News ahead of the New Hampshire primary, which the former president won, Trump also said that he twice "aced" a cognitive test, including once while in office, and that he would beat Haley to such an examination.
"I've actually called for a cognitive test for anybody running for president because I actually think that's a good idea. It'd be nice to have an intelligent person be president."
This Ipsos poll was conducted January 22-24, 2024, by Ipsos for Reuters and is based on a representative probability sample of 1,250 general population adults aged 18 or older. The sample includes 478 Democrats, 572 Republicans, and 118 independents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.86 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
