WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – Majorities of Americans believe Joe Biden has demonstrated he is too old to be President of the United States or is otherwise mentally unfit for the office, according to a new survey by Harvard University’s Center for American Political Studies and the Harris Poll.
The survey of 1,963 registered voters from May 18 to 19 finds that 53% of respondents “have doubts” when asked if they believe Biden is “mentally fit to serve as President,” and 62% say he is “showing he is too old” for the job, including majorities of independents. Even 19% of Democrats admit “doubts about his fitness,” and 29% of Democrats agree he’s “showing he is too old.”
Biden’s overall approval rating stands at 41%, with voters disapproving of his handling of the economy, jobs, terrorism, immigration, foreign affairs, government administration, crime and violence, and inflation.
The only issue on which a narrow majority gives the president passing marks is “reacting to coronavirus,” though Democrat strategists have warned candidates to back away from the deeply unpopular COVID-19 restrictions that came to define the party.
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Meanwhile, 58% of Americans disapprove of the Democrat Party as a whole, though Republicans only fare marginally better at 53% disapproval.
Biden has been famously gaffe-prone throughout his decades in politics, but in recent years the increasing frequency of odd and incoherent statements from the former senator and vice president, as well as moments in which he appears lost and confused, sparked a marked increase in speculation from friends and foes alike as to whether his mind has deteriorated with old age, so much so that during the 2020 campaign, Biden pledged only to serve one term “if anything changed in my health” to render him mentally incapable of the job.
In February, Trump-era White House physician Ronny Jackson, who is now a Republican U.S. House member from Texas, sent Biden a letter urging him to “under[go] a cognitive test as soon as possible and immediately mak[e] the results available for the American people,” citing several public instances in which Jackson argued Biden exhibited signs of mental decline.
Biden has said he expects to run for a second term in 2024, but many remain doubtful. Whether or not the 2024 nomination would go to Vice President Kamala Harris, who faces her own tensions and doubts among her fellow Democrats, may depend in part on whether Biden resigns the presidency to her before completing his full term.
In the meantime, many observers on both sides of the political spectrum expect this fall’s midterm elections to result in Republicans picking up a substantial number of seats in both chambers of Congress.