Biden and Trump are less than four years apart, but despite recent similar gaffes, the former and current presidents face different treatment regarding their age and mental capacity. Only one’s age raises concerns, while the other is allowed to continue making mistakes. What are the differences, and if President Biden is too old to run the country, should Trump be too?
Biden looks like an elderly man
His hair is thinner, and his voice is raspier. As The New York Times’ Rebecca Davis O’Brien noted, President Biden’s posture adds “to an impression of frailty.” He is the oldest President of the US, but he is not the first one to deal with the age issue. Doug Sosnik, a senior adviser to Clinton, wrote in a Times op-ed that Reagan beat Carter due to charisma and that Biden should adopt some of his strategies.
Biden’s challenger is Biden himself
Sosnik shared that apart from sporadically going after Trump, Biden’s real challenger is Biden, and asked, “Can he convince the voters, as Mr. Reagan did, that he is up to the job of being president at an age when most people have retired?”
Meanwhile, Trump paints a different picture
Trump “dyes his hair and appears unnaturally tan,” wrote Davis O’Brien. Despite being reportedly a bit overweight, he “uses his physicality to project strength in front of crowds.” With his hair, tan suits, and often outrageous claims, Trump is a “display of stamina.”
It is not what you say but how you say it
Carol Kinsey Goman, a speaker and coach on leadership presence, told the Times that Trump brushes off his blunders, and “He makes at least as many mistakes as Joe Biden, but because he does it with this bravado, it doesn’t seem like senility. It seems like passion.”
Trump’s recent mishaps
In 2024 alone, Trump claimed he beat Obama, not Clinton, mistook Nancy Pelosi for Nikki Haley, and before that, he warned of WWII and proudly announced that Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, was the prime minister of Turkey. Additionally, Israel was attacked by hummus.
Biden made similar gaffes
Biden mistook two dead European leaders for alive ones, confused Mexico and Egypt, also stumbled upon the name of the terrorist group, confused Ukraine with the Iraq war, and mumbled God save the Queen, though it could be a form of salute, no one knows for sure.
Similar situations, different answers
Biden joked about his age, but Trump’s message was on point – for example, in 2015, he said he would be ” the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency” and later called himself a “very stable genius.” Trump repeated the story of his mental capacity test numerous times and did not allow for his age to become a national issue.
Different expectations
Biden has been in politics for decades and wants to present himself in a particular light. On the other hand, there is Trump, “more of an entertainer than a politician in many ways,” Mark Pocan, a Democrat, told The Times. He added, “There’s just a different set of expectations, and that’s why he gets away with it.”
Different backgrounds
Trump’s experience in reality TV comes in handy during rallies. Biden never had that connection with an audience, and he shared stories about the stutter that haunted him since childhood. Trump was the king of New York, a party man, a ladies’ man, while Biden dedicated his life to the office.
Not even doctors can give a diagnosis without meeting the candidates
Health experts warned that gaffes and opinions are not signals that someone is battling cognitive troubles. Yet, Dr. Eric Lenze of Washington University in St. Louis talked to AP and reminded that inevitable “glitches” are expected as we age. Still, a vast majority of Americans are worried about Biden’s age, not so much about Trump’s.
“Grumpy, old men”
Haley took the opportunity to mock Trump and Biden at a recent rally, arguing that it is time for a new generation, not “grumpy, old men.” The GOP presidential hopeful asked on CBS, “At what point do they get it’s time to leave?” She also requested term limits and mental competency tests for politicians over 75. Perhaps adopting these ideas would put focus on the real issues.
Daily reminders
Biden “should emphasize that age alone is not what counts; it’s the wisdom of his ideas,” Sosnik wrote and explained in his Times op-ed, that daily reminders will be presented to voters, and “it will be up to Mr. Biden to convince enough voters that he is up to the presidency into his mid-80s.” Read the full analysis by Rebecca Davis O’Brien here.
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