Nearly two-thirds of Joe Biden supporters from 2020 now believe the president is “just too old to be an effective president,” according to a new poll from Siena College and the New York Times. Perhaps just as remarkable is the fact that while Donald Trump is ten points underwater in popularity (44–54), the sitting president is down 21 points on net (38–59).
Lisa Lerer and Ruth Igielnik report for the Times:
Widespread concerns about President Biden’s age pose a deepening threat to his re-election bid, with a majority of voters who supported him in 2020 now saying he is too old to lead the country effectively, according to a new poll by The New York Times and Siena College.
The survey pointed to a fundamental shift in how voters who backed Mr. Biden four years ago have come to see him. A striking 61 percent said they thought he was “just too old” to be an effective president.
A sizable share was even more worried: Nineteen percent of those who voted for Mr. Biden in 2020, and 13 percent of those who said they would back him in November, said the 81-year-old president’s age was such a problem that he was no longer capable of handling the job.
The misgivings about Mr. Biden’s age cut across generations, gender, race and education, underscoring the president’s failure to dispel both concerns within his own party and Republican attacks painting him as senile. Seventy-three percent of all registered voters said he was too old to be effective, and 45 percent expressed a belief that he could not do the job.
Donald Trump received similar numbers from Biden voters, with 62 percent considering him too old to be effective, though only 15 percent of Trump voters said the same. Democrats are split 46–45 on whether Joe Biden should be the 2024 nominee, with a plurality reporting themselves “satisfied, but not enthusiastic” about the man.
While Americans are unsure about the quality of either candidate, what they do know is that they are worse off under the Biden administration than they were during the Trump years, with a plurality (40 percent) reporting that Trump’s policies “helped” them personally and 43 percent signaling that Biden’s polices “hurt” them personally.
Maybe that’s really all there is to know: Whatever people feel about Trump the man, they’re inclined to dislike him less because at least things seemed better under his watch (discomposed as it may have been). People like Biden well enough, . . . they just don’t like him as president.