Critics of President Joe Biden and supporters of his likely 2024 opponent, former President Donald Trump, have made age and mental acuity central themes in their campaign against him.
At 80, Biden is the oldest person to ever hold the highest office in the land. The onslaught seems to be working well because polls say Americans believe that Biden is too old for the job.
Moreover, the same surveys claim that age and cognitive decline are not affecting Trump, who is 77 years old, in the same fashion. As a former reality TV star with a bombastic personality, Trump is seen as more in control.
However, with campaigning getting into full motion, it is unclear whether Trump will be able to keep up appearances. Recent developments suggest that Trump’s gaffes could become an issue in the 2024 election.
While touting his 2016 performance in South Carolina, Donald Trump appears to claim former Republican presidential rival Jeb Bush “got us into the Middle East.” pic.twitter.com/UXPFGnB80Y
— The Recount (@therecount) September 25, 2023
The real estate tycoon appeared slightly confused during a speech in South Carolina earlier today. Trump said that Jeb Bush was president when the US got involved in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is an erroneous statement because the former governor of Florida was never president. However, his brother, George W. Bush, is the one who made that call after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Trump defenders say this is not a big deal. Their candidate just misspoke. However, a few days ago, he said that Biden would get the US into “World War Two” if he is reelected. World War II ended almost 80 years ago.
In the same week, Trump also said that he beat former President Barack Obama in the 2016 election. Obama served two terms that ended in 2017, and Hillary Clinton was Trump’s opponent in 2016.
The left is now pushing the narrative that Trump is in decline and is cognitively impaired. Time will tell if the tag will stick the way the right managed to do it for Biden.
What is clear is that the two men are not on solid footing when it comes to mental fitness and should center their campaign on real problems.
However, Trump is not backing down on the matter, and he now says that Biden will not be the candidate in 2024. He said in South Carolina, “And maybe he makes it to the gate, I don’t know if he makes it to the gate.”
For Trump, Biden is really unpopular, and no one wants to support him. He stated, “I don’t think it even matters anymore because they have been so destructive to our country, what they’ve done as a party, that I don’t think it matters.”
While Trump’s rhetoric will please his fans, polls show the race between him and Biden is very close.
