Biden exit turns age question to Trump, now oldest nominee in U.S. history

U.S. President Joe Biden bowed retired of nan 2024 election connected Sunday amid mounting unit complete his property and intelligence fitness. Now that he has exited nan race, erstwhile president Donald Trump whitethorn spot those nonstop aforesaid criticisms slung astatine him arsenic attraction turns to his ain cognitive expertise and past gaffes.

Trump, 78, is nan oldest nominee for president successful U.S. history, a title he’s apt to support erstwhile Democrats yet take their ain nominee.

Biden has endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris to lead nan statement successful nan upcoming predetermination but her information is not yet guaranteed. The determination is group to beryllium made astatine nan Democratic National Convention, slated for Aug. 19-22.

Harris, 59, is nan only Democrat truthful acold vying for nan nomination, but other starring Democrats mightiness effort to springiness her a tally for her money. In bad news for Trump, each of nan politicians who could guidelines a chance astatine challenging Harris are younger than him, by a lot. In fact, astir are younger than Harris, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom (56), Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (52) and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (51).

If Trump wins nan predetermination and assumes agency connected Jan 20, 2025, he will overtake Biden arsenic nan oldest sitting U.S. president successful history — albeit by a mini separator of 5 months.

Harris’ comparative younker could beryllium a immense prize for nan Democratic party. Instead of being connected nan protect connected nan mobility of age, Democrats person nan chance to move nan tables and leverage nan aforesaid attacks Trump launched astatine Biden.

Is Trump excessively aged to serve?

In January, erstwhile South Carolina politician Nikki Haley made a prophetic connection while campaigning against Trump successful nan GOP primary.

“Most Americans do not want a rematch betwixt Biden and Trump,” Haley said astatine nan rally. “The first statement to discontinue its 80-year-old campaigner is going to beryllium nan statement that wins this election.”

The resurfaced clip is gaining traction online successful nan aftermath of Biden’s exit.

Biden’s announcement that he was suspending his re-election run made nary mention of age, but his withdrawal from nan title came astatine a clip erstwhile Democratic donors, party elites and U.S. voters alike loudly questioned if Biden was excessively aged to service different term.

The concerns were ignited aft Biden’s disastrous statement performance against Trump, during which he stumbled complete his words and appeared confused aggregate times. But Trump, too, has made immoderate embarrassing blunders connected nan run way complete nan years and he hasn’t escaped questions astir his intelligence fitness.

A caller Ipsos study conducted for ABC News and nan Washington Post recovered that 60 per cent of Americans judge Trump is excessively old for a 2nd term.

During Trump’s first term, he was already fielding questions astir his cognitive abilities. In 2018, Michael Wolff published his book Fire and Fury: Inside nan Trump White House, which included quotes from a number of Trump’s aides, who expressed doubts astir his competence. Trump denied nan allegations that he wasn’t fresh for agency and allowed his expert to uncover that he had undergone a cognitive appraisal and scored a cleanable 30 retired of 30.

Trump has continued to reference this appraisal to boast astir his intelligence acuity. (It’s important to statement that nan trial is not designed to measurement intelligence, but to surface for neurodegenerative disorders for illustration dementia and Alzheimer’s.)

Just past month, Trump again referenced nan appraisal and suggested that Biden should beryllium compelled to return a cognitive test, only to confuse nan expert who administered nan trial to him successful nan adjacent sentence.

Trending Now

“He doesn’t moreover cognize what nan connection ‘inflation’ means. I deliberation he should return a cognitive trial for illustration I did,” Trump said astatine nan reside successful June. “Doc Ronny Johnson. Does everyone cognize Ronny Johnson, congressman from Texas? He was nan White House doctor, and he said I was nan healthiest president, he feels, successful history, truthful I liked him very overmuch so immediately.”

The personification Trump was referring to is really Rep. Ronny Jackson, who was nan White House expert for portion of his presidency.

In different caller gaffe, Trump referred to erstwhile House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arsenic “Nikki Haley” galore times while talking astir nan Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Pelosi changeable backmost by claiming that Trump has a “cognitive disorder.”

Over nan people of respective months successful precocious 2023, Trump seemed to confuse Biden and erstwhile president Barack Obama 7 times, according to Forbes — 3 times during a reside connected Sept. 15, doubly during an Oct. 11 question and reply pinch Fox News radio, erstwhile during an Oct. 1 rally and again successful November.

Trump has moreover forgotten his ain wife’s name. In February this year, he appeared to mention to his woman Melania Trump arsenic “Mercedes.”

During Trump’s caller speech astatine nan Republican National Convention — wherever he accepted nan Republican information — nan erstwhile president appeared to ramble and meander done his words.

A Bloomberg sentiment piece excoriated nan reside arsenic “so somnambulant and self-absorbed that astatine times nan normal level felt for illustration a seance guided by a mean speaking successful tongues.”

While Democrats couldn’t afloat prehend connected these Trump missteps while Biden was campaigning, nan floodgates whitethorn now beryllium wide unfastened to onslaught Trump’s age.

But it’s not conscionable U.S. presidents who getting up location successful age. The 118th U.S. Congress nether Biden is 1 of nan oldest successful U.S. history. Business Insider recovered that astir one successful 4 members of Congress are successful their 70s aliases 80s.

The accrued attraction paid to nan property of politicians has spurred statement connected property limits. Pew polling from October 2023 recovered that 79 per cent of Americans support property limits for elected national officials and 74 per cent support limits for Supreme Court justices.