Poll on work and aging finds surprising answers
WASHINGTON — Most Americans think it’s OK for someone in their 80s to serve as president of the United States, but think less of their ability to serve in other professional occupations, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll shows.
The poll of 1,000 registered voters found that 59.6% of survey respondents are somewhat or very comfortable with someone in their 80s serving as president, while 34% of respondents said they are not very or not at all comfortable. Another 6.4% said they were undecided.
By contrast, a majority of respondents said they are not very or not at all comfortable with a professional in their 80s performing other occupations like surgery (62.3%), piloting a flight (60.2%) or driving a school bus (55%).
Questions around age and acuity have surrounded the 2024 race with the presumptive general election matchup between Donald Trump, 77, and Joe Biden, 81, who would each hold the distinction of being the oldest person to take the oath of office if sworn in next January.
Poll respondents USA TODAY spoke with cited a variety of reasons why they thought someone in their 80s could be effective as the leader of the free world but not trustworthy in other professions.
‘It’s life or death’
Democrat Katie Netzorg, 68, said she’d be very comfortable with a president 80 and up, noting that to her it’s “about the individual” when it comes to the presidency, not age.
“Joe Biden has proven himself, and if you’ve seen any of Trump’s recent public appearances, he’s melting on the stage. I mean, the guy’s just falling apart,” said Netzorg, a former interior designer in Las Vegas. “You know, he is a danger to our democracy.”
But Netzorg said she wouldn’t be very comfortable with an 80-year-old surgeon, saying that was a matter of “life or death.”
Republican Jessie Ambrose, 78, a retired respiratory therapist in Canfield, Ohio, also said a president’s age doesn’t concern her. She said that a president “has more support whereas a bus driver doesn’t have anybody. It’s just himself.”
But Ambrose, who is voting for Trump, said he’s mentally and physically fit to be president, while she said Biden isn’t.
“It’s an individual thing for sure. My husband was 90 years old when he passed away last year, and nobody could get anything past him,” she said.
Others, who said they wouldn’t be comfortable with someone in their 80s serving as president, disagree.
“I think when you’re dealing with world issues and things that are very critical, and foreign leaders, you need to be on top of your game and I don’t think people are at the top of their game at 80,” said Freddie Miller, 59, a self-described liberal Republican and retail district manager in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “I just don’t believe that.”
The same goes for driving a school bus or performing surgery, he said. “Motor skills I don’t think are quite as good. I don’t think your reflexes are quite as good.”