The poll, conducted by NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ and released on Thursday, mostly focused on the Republican Party’s presidential primary race, but included two questions about Biden, the present head of state and presumed opponent of any GOP candidate who triumphs over their peers.
When the November 2024 election comes underway, Biden will be 81 years old - 15 days short of his 82nd birthday; by the time his term ends, assuming he completes it, Biden will be 87, as his birthday is in late November and presidential terms end the January after the election.
The other question about Biden was: “If Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee in 2024, would his age impact your decision about who to vote for?” To this, 40.17% said it would “strongly impact” their decision and another 18.84% said it would impact it somewhat. A little over 13% said it would slightly impact their decision, while 27.79% of respondents said Biden’s age wouldn’t affect their decision at all.
Trump has himself pushed back on the idea that Biden is too old. During a recent interview with a conservative radio show, Trump said Biden’s problem isn’t that he is too old but that he is “grossly incompetent.”
Biden has long been criticized for his tendency to gaffe, but more recently that scrutiny has focused on moments when Biden doesn’t seem to be mentally present, becoming confused during simply tasks or answering questions in bizarre ways. Several GOP lawmakers have called for Biden to be forced to pass a cognitive proficiency test, although the White House physician has given the president a clean bill of physical and mental health.
While many of the poll respondents fretted over Biden’s age, they also seemed nonplussed by the Republican options to oppose him, too. Separate questions about voters’ attitudes toward each GOP presidential primary candidate found that more were either opposed to the candidate or were unsure - including Trump. Still, a strong plurality, 44.2%, felt Trump posed the best chance of beating Biden in an election.
The margin of error for the poll was 3.1%.