Ron DeSantis again calls Biden, Trump too old for White House
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis once again touted the ages of President Biden and former President Trump as a reason neither should be re-elected in 2024.
Why it matters: Age has marked a central concern in the 2024 presidential race, though voters have been much more likely to view Biden, 80, as too old for the job, compared with Trump, 77.
- A Monmouth University poll from last month had 76% of voters agreeing that Biden was too old to serve another term, compared with 48% saying that for Trump.
What he's saying: "So, I've said publicly, the presidency is not a job for an 80-year-old, that Donald Trump would actually be older on January 20, 2025, than Biden was on January 20, 2021," DeSantis said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday when asked if he thinks Trump is too old to be president.
- "But, I think it's part of a larger issue that this is not the same guy as the Trump in 2015 and [20]16, that Trump would show up on the debate stage, he'd barnstorm. Yes, he was off-color, he was edgy, but it was all part of an idea that he was really gonna shake things up," DeSantis said.
- "Now, he's wedded to the teleprompter. He's not willing to debate, and he's running on many of the same things he promised to do in 2016 and didn't deliver," he said.
- "I think with somebody like me ... I'm in the prime of my life. I go in day one, I'll serve two terms, deliver big results, and get the country moving again. That's what Republican voters want to see," he said.
Worth noting: If either were re-elected, Biden would be 86 years old at the end of his second term, while Trump would be 82.
- Biden will celebrate his 81st birthday on Nov. 20.
Go deeper: Top DeSantis donor kicks the tires on switching support to Trump
