(NewsNation) — With just over a year until the 2024 presidential election, Americans are more concerned about President Joe Biden’s age than former President Donald Trump’s, according to a NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll released Tuesday.
Over 80% of respondents said they are somewhat or very concerned about Biden’s age affecting his ability to serve another term effectively. About 63% of those surveyed felt the same way about Trump.
Those responses were split along partisan lines with Democratic voters more likely to be worried about Trump’s age and Republicans more concerned about Biden’s.
Among independents, 83% were concerned about Biden’s age compared to 65% for Trump.
At 80 years old, Biden is the oldest president in U.S. history. If re-elected, he would be 86 at the end of his second term. At 77, Trump is only a few years younger.
Although age was a factor in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic allowed both candidates to scale back their campaign travel, Scott Tranter, head of data science for Decision Desk HQ, pointed out. That won’t be the case in 2024.
“Both candidates — if it ends up being them — are going to have to do a full campaign schedule this time,” Tranter said. “That’s taxing for even a 25-year-old.”
Now, a plurality of Democrats want someone to run against Biden.
Nearly 50% of Democratic voters surveyed said they want another candidate to challenge the president, compared to 28% who don’t want that to happen. Among independents, nearly 70% think someone else should run against Biden.
Although they seem open to a Democratic alternative, it’s unclear who voters want that to be.
The top two options for Democrats were Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, both with 19% support, according to the poll. Independents were most likely to back West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (21%) to take on Biden.
When it comes to the slate of Republican candidates, a plurality of GOP respondents (32%) thought biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy had the best performance at the first debate. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in second among Republicans surveyed — 23% said he had the best debate night.
Independents were most likely to say none of the candidates stood out (28%), but former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley topped the list of those who debated (21%). Ramaswamy’s debate performance came in second among independents (20%).
Trump, who did not participate in the first debate, remains the front-runner to win the GOP nomination and is polling around 54%. DeSantis is currently in second around 14%, and Ramaswamy is in third at 7%.
Around 40% of respondents said they plan to vote for the Democratic candidate in 2024 — roughly the same percentage who intend to support the GOP candidate.