Former President Donald Trump is hot and cold on the issue of President Joe Biden‘s age. The 77-year-old real estate mogul said a few days ago in an interview with Megyn Kelly that Biden’s age is not a big problem.
Moreover, he stated that competency is the real issue that will matter in the 2024 presidential election. In the SiriusXM interview, Trump told Kelly: “I have many friends that are in their 80s. I have friends… that are in their 90s, and they’re sharp as a tack. Just, I mean, I would say, just about what they used to be. No, not old. He’s incompetent.”
However, in a sit-down with NBC News’s Kristen Welker that will air on Meet the Press Sunday, Trump pushes for cognitive tests for presidents.
He shared: “You know, I took a test two years ago, three years ago. You know, I took a test two years ago, three years ago. And as the doctors said — and it was in front of doctors and a whole big deal at Walter Reed [hospital], which is an incredible place. And I aced it. I get everything right. I’m all for testing. I frankly think testing would be a good thing. A lot of people say it’s not constitutional to do it. But I would be for testing, to test to make sure everyone’s just fine. But a lot of people say that can’t happen because of the Constitution.”
Trump confuses Biden for Obama and then says Biden is “leading us into WWII”
pic.twitter.com/xhSz7Pva5U— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) September 16, 2023
This is the same idea that Trump’s former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has turned into a central theme in her campaign for president.
While entering the race in February, the former governor of South Carolina said: “In the America I see, the permanent politician will finally retire. We’ll have term limits for Congress. And mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.”
Haley is campaigning on generational change. However, her poll numbers are abysmal and many predict that she could share the Republican ticket with Trump as his vice president in 2024.
Political observers say that Trump is making a risky bet by talking about age because he is only three years younger than Biden. Moreover, some voters say that Trump is also too old to be president.
Trump was also caught making a few gaffes on Saturday that critics are using to point out his age. In a speech, he said that Biden would lead the country into World War Two. There is one problem with that statement, World War Two started in 1939.
Moreover, the Republican tycoon also appeared to say that he is leading former President Barack Obama in the 2024 polls. Mr. Obama ended his second term in 2017 and cannot run for president again.
Democrats are blaming the press for not paying enough attention to Trump’s gaffes. His backers say that Biden’s misstatements are more damaging.
The two men seem to be inching closer to a rematch in 2024. Polls say Americans want another alternative, but the end of the two-party system does not appear to be near.
