Trump ‘too old’: Majority now worries about former president's mental fitness and health
In the fifteen days since President Joe Biden pulled out of his re-election campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, voters have increasingly grown even more concerned over Donald Trump's age, health, mental fitness, and variety of other factors, while embracing newly-presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on those same issues. A majority (51%) now see Donald Trump as too old to be president, and more than a third of voters doubt he would be able to serve a full four-year term.
Morning Consult, in a new poll released Monday, offers additional good news for Vice President Harris, saying she has "widened the trust advantage that Biden held on handling issues such as abortion (her biggest lead), climate change, education, health care and protecting American democracy, while Trump’s advantage over Harris on gun policy, crime, the economy and foreign policy are smaller than they were for Biden."
"Not surprisingly, Harris’ replacement of Biden has now erased the Democratic Party’s age problem with the American electorate. That burden has now shifted to Trump," Morning Consult's Eli Yokley writes.
NEW: With Biden out of the race, the Democrats now have advantages on questions of mental fitness and age.
Kamala Harris also has more voter trust to handle the issues. More –> https://t.co/WLwFLMnScz pic.twitter.com/ILu98ALXen — Eli Yokley (@eyokley) August 5, 2024
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In a significant, seven-point jump, a majority (51%) now say Donald Trump is too old to be President, up from 44%. Morning Consult found, "more than 1 in 3 voters (36%) — including 45% of independents — said it is unlikely the Republican nominee would be capable of serving a full four-year term in office if elected in November."
Those concerns are not related to Trump's health as much as his fitness for office.
"Among these voters who questioned whether Trump could finish a full second term, their fears are less likely to center on his fragility or longevity than they were about Biden, whose bid was toppled by questions about his age. Instead, they center on perceptions of how Trump will behave — similar to swing-state voters’ worry that Trump is 'dangerous.'"
The poll also shows that now only a slim 52% majority say Donald Trump is in good health, a six-point drop from before President Biden ended his campaign.
Going from a majority to a minority position, now just 48% say Trump is mentally fit, a drop of five points from 53%.
By comparison, 71% say Vice President Harris is in good health, 64% say she is mentally fit, and just 12% say she is too old.
In other categories Trump also lost ground.
For "strong leader," Trump lost two points, now clocking in at 52%.
And now 57% say Trump is "reckless," up one point.
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The ex-president loses one point when asked if he "cares about people like me" (43%), and one point when asked if he is "honest" (now 41%).
Voters' responses stayed the same when asked if Trump is "racist" (51% yes), and "trustworthy" (44%).
With Trump, one-quarter of voters (26%) have a major concern about his health or dying.
And about four in ten voters have major concerns about Trump when it comes to him having a "Diminished ability to react to a developing crisis" and a "Limited ability to consume important information" (both 39%). 40% of voters have a major concern about "Weakened perceptions of U.S. strength and leadership abroad" under a second Trump administration. Even more, 42% have major concerns over Trump's"Inability to negotiate with foreign leaders," and "Inability to negotiate with other American officials."
43% worry about Trump's "Inability to communicate effectively with Americans," while nearly half of voters have major concerns about Trump's "Poor decision making" (46%) and "Erratic behavior" (49%).
Interesting tidbit: When Biden was in the race, voters were most concerned about his physical abilities/health when it came to his age.
With Trump, their fears are more likely to be about erratic behavior and poor decision making. https://t.co/WLwFLMnkn1 pic.twitter.com/4y79m3UZrV — Eli Yokley (@eyokley) August 5, 2024
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