At his final campaign rally in Wisconsin over the weekend, Donald Trump told a strange anecdote about unnamed Democratic activists trying to take advantage of senior citizens. “There were people in their 80s who said, ‘Uh, would you sign here?'” the Republican said, referring to a controversy he could not identify. The former president went on to call the tactic “a disgrace.”
The comments were odd for several reasons, not least of which was the implication of the rhetoric: Trump made it sound as if octogenarians were easy to manipulate because of their advanced age—even though he himself is running for president at age 78. If the Republican candidate returns to power, he would turn 80 before the 2026 midterm elections.
As many observers have noted, President Joe Biden has spent months intensive His age, health and fitness for the office are all under scrutiny. His predecessor and potential successor, despite his increasingly confused babble and apparent difficulty in distinguishing fiction from reality, have not faced nearly as many questions.
Chris Hayes of MSNBC recently summed it up like this: “It’s a few “It is strange that ‘age concerns’ have disappeared from the constant coverage and discussion of the election campaign, even though the Republican candidate would be the oldest man ever sworn into office and his age is clearly declining rapidly before our eyes.”
But is the conversation changing? Politico published a report late last week with the headline: “Age-Related Attacks Backfire on Trump.” Against this backdrop, the New York Times published a new and related analysis in its latest issue.
The last time a presidential debate was held, a candidate with roughly eight decades of life experience faced the challenge of proving he was still up to the task of leading the country. He failed. Two and a half months later, the lineup has changed, and another candidate on his way to the 80-something club faces his own test to prove he hasn’t weakened with age. Whether he passes that test could affect who the next occupant of the Oval Office will be.
This analysis, by the way, appeared on the Times’ A1 – and ensured that questions about Trump’s age and abilities literally made the front page ahead of a debate that could have significant implications for the 2024 presidential election.
While the report acknowledges that Trump “displays more energy and speaks with more volume” than the Democratic incumbent, it adds that the Republican candidate “has mixed up names, confused facts and stumbled over his arguments. Trump’s rambling speeches, his sometimes incoherent statements and his extreme outbursts have raised questions about his own cognitive health and, according to polls, raised doubts among a majority of voters.”
Given the circumstances, this analysis is more than fair, and since Biden’s resignation, Democrats have been less reluctant to raise concerns about Trump’s age.
But what struck me about the Times cover story was its existence: Public discussion had focused so heavily on Biden’s age and fitness for so long that it seemed as though Trump, despite being only a few years younger than the Democrat, was avoiding similar scrutiny – even as he repeatedly embarrassed himself with head-shaking, incoherent statements.
Eight weeks before election day, it now seems as if a turning point in the public debate is imminent.
