NEW: President Biden's job approval rating has hit a career low in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll and a broad 68% of Americans say he's too old for another term as president.
Just 44% see Biden's potential opponent, Donald Trump, as too old. Beyond chronological age, Trump far surpasses Biden in being seen as having the mental sharpness and the physical health it takes to serve effectively as president, with wide doubts about Biden on both fronts.
Biden's approval rating is numerically the lowest on record for any first-term president a year and a half from the next presidential election in polling dating to Harry Truman. Similar was Gerald Ford, at 40% approval in May 1975; Jimmy Carter, at 37% in May 1979; and Trump, at 39% in April 2019. None were re-elected.Trump, while the clear leader for the GOP nomination, has challenges of his own.
DeSantis comes closest to Trump, 27% versus 36%, among moderates. But there aren't that many of them in the party. Conservatives, who account for about two-thirds of Republicans and Republican leaners, favor Trump over DeSantis by 55-27%.That said, substantial majorities of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they would be satisfied with either Trump or DeSantis as their party's nominee.
These results -- with DeSantis doing as well as Trump against Biden -- suggest that Biden's challenge is not about Trump per se, but about perceptions of Biden himself. Nearly half of Democrats -- 48% -- say Biden is too old for another term; about as many say the same about Trump. Many more independents -- 75% -- say this about Biden, versus 51% for Trump. Among Republicans, 79% see Biden as too old; just 28% say this of Trump.Among adults age 65 and older, 62% see Biden as too old, versus 40% who say the same about Trump. Among the youngest adults, aged 18 to 29, 75% see Biden as too old, versus 53% for Trump.