A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found that a majority of Americans believe that President Joe Biden lacks the mental or physical ability to serve another term. Only 32% of American adults believe that Biden, who is 80 years old, has the necessary “mental sharpness” to serve as president, while 63% are undecided. This is an increase of nine percentage points from a similar survey done a year prior, where 54% of respondents believed he lacked the necessary mental aptitude for the position.
The survey also found that 62% of Americans do not believe Biden is in good enough physical health to serve as president, with 33% saying he is and 5% undecided. When asked the same questions about former president Donald Trump, who is 76 years old and currently the front-runner in the GOP presidential primary, 54% of respondents said he has the necessary mental acumen and 64% said he is in good enough physical health to be president.
Of the respondents, 26% of Americans believe that only Biden is too old to be president, while only 1% said the same about Trump. However, 43% of respondents think that both men are past their prime for the job.
Biden’s job approval rating also dropped to a new low of 36%, down six points from a similar poll taken in February, while 56% of respondents disapproved of his performance thus far. Additionally, a majority of Americans (54%) believe that Trump handled the economy better than Biden, while only 36% believe that Biden is doing a better job.
Despite these negative findings, Biden’s campaign has reaffirmed his 2020 campaign message of fighting for the “soul of our nation,” bringing the nation together, and supporting the middle class. His campaign released a video titled “Freedom” which opens with footage of the January 6th protest outside the US Capitol. In the video, Biden states, “That’s been the work of my first term: To fight for our democracy. This shouldn’t be a red or blue issue.”
The poll was conducted between April 28 and May 3 among a nationwide sample of 1,006 randomly selected U.S. adults, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris made their reelection intentions public around the same time as the poll. Biden’s low approval ratings and doubts about his physical and mental capacity to serve another term may pose a significant obstacle for his re-election campaign.
