TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — Last night, Ron DeSantis said what the majority of Americans are thinking – Joe Biden and Donald Trump are both too old to govern effectively.
DeSantis, who will turn 45 on Thursday, says he’s “legitimately concerned” about the advanced age of his biggest rival and main opponent, saying the nation needs an “energetic president” to lift it out of its current state of decline.
COULD BIDEN OR TRUMP GIVE 100 PERCENT?
“I think that’s absolutely a legitimate concern,” DeSantis said in an interview with CBS News on Tuesday. “The presidency is not a job for someone who is 80 years old.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being 80,” DeSantis clarified. “Obviously, I’m the governor of Florida. I know a lot of people who are elderly. They’re great people, but you’re talking about a job where you need to give it 100 percent.”
President Biden, 80, is the oldest president in U.S. history and appears to grow more fragile and confused by the day. If reelected, he’ll be 86 years old at the end of his term.
Trump, 77 – who appears to be in good functional shape – would be 82 by the end of his term if he were to beat Biden in 2024.
“AN ENERGETIC PRESIDENT”
“We need an energetic president, and I think that if the Founders could kind of look at this again, I do think they probably would have put an age limit on some of these offices,” DeSantis contended.
Those concerns also resonate with most voters, according to recent surveys.
A CBS News poll released Sunday found that 80 percent of Americans believe elected officials older than 75 risk being out of touch with the current times. An overwhelming 78 percent have concerns about the ability of those officials to perform their jobs. More than half of Americans polled, 53 percent, believe the presidency is too demanding for someone over the age of 75.
Another survey released last month by the Associated Press showed an overwhelming 77 percent of Americans feel that Biden is too old to run the country effectively. The poll showed that more than half of Americans, 51 percent, are also apprehensive about Trump’s age.
DeSantis says his relative youth will draw voters to support him in a head-to-head matchup with Biden.
“If Biden’s the Democrat nominee, I’m the Republican nominee, I think there’s going to be a lot of Americans who are going to want to see a generational passing of the torch,” DeSantis said.
