Trump turns 78, spotlighting age as central issue in 2024 race
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[June 14, 2024]
By Nathan Layne
(Reuters) - Donald Trump turns 78 on Friday, a milestone that will
remind voters that the two major-party candidates running for U.S.
president this year are the oldest ever to seek the office.
Age and mental sharpness have been at the center of the contest between
the Republican Trump and his Democratic rival, President Joe Biden,
often getting more attention than substantive policy issues in the
run-up to the Nov. 5 election.
Public opinion polls show Americans are more worried about the advanced
age of Biden, who is 81. But at 78, Trump is just three and a half years
younger, and he would be the oldest person ever to be inaugurated if he
wins a second term.
Trump is scheduled to speak on Friday at a birthday party organized for
him in West Palm Beach, Florida, by a group of die-hard supporters.
On the campaign trail, Trump has not explicitly made an issue of Biden's
age, but has sought to capitalize on his opponent's every verbal
mistake, as well as Biden's slowing gait, to cast him as unfit for the
Oval Office.
Biden has responded to questions about his age by telling voters to
focus on his accomplishments in office as evidence of his acuity and
strength. He has also described Trump as a threat to democracy and
criticized his sometimes rambling speeches, as well as Trump's use of
inflammatory rhetoric against immigrants.
Still, even some Democrats have expressed concerns about Biden's ability
to complete another term, which would take him to age 86.
In a Reuters/Ipsos poll in February, some 78% of respondents - including
71% of Democrats - said Biden, already the oldest president, was too old
to work in government. Some 53% of respondents said Trump, who was
president from 2017-2021, was too old for government work.
"It's not about age, it's about mental competence," said Trump campaign
spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, arguing that voters can see the contrast
between Biden and Trump, whom she described as "sharp as a tack with
elite stamina."
The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
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Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald
Trump holds a campaign rally at Crotona Park in the Bronx borough of
New York City, U.S., May 23, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/ File
Photo
Presidential historian Timothy Naftali said Trump projects energy in
public appearances, making him appear to be more vital physically,
but that does not mean he is sharper mentally.
"It's not clear listening to the two men who's in better command of
his faculties," Naftali said.
Allan Lichtman, a history professor at American University and
well-known presidential prognosticator, said Trump had made gaffes
and spread false information to an extent that should be raising
more questions about his mental fitness.
"People somehow focus on the mistakes Biden has made while totally
ignoring the way in which Trump seems to be entirely unhinged from
reality," he said.
Trump and Biden are neck-and-neck in national opinion polls, with
Trump ahead in several of the battleground states that could decide
November's contest.
It is unclear just how much age will be a factor in the final
outcome. Among issues that voters will be weighing is the strength
of the economy, which overall is performing well but is beset by
inflation, as well as immigration and abortion rights.
Voters also have Trump's legal troubles to consider. Last month, a
New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to
cover up a payment to a porn star on the eve of the 2016 election.
He faces three additional criminal cases, though none are likely to
go to trial before the election.
The first televised debate on June 27 will be an important test for
both Biden and Trump, with voters looking for verbal slip-ups as a
possible indicator that they might not be up to the task of leading
the country.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut and Jeff Mason in
Washington, D.C.; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Leslie Adler))
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