The headlines change from day to day, but one topic has been consistently part of news coverage: President Biden’s age. Many voters — supporters and opponents of Biden alike — have expressed everything from genuine concern to outright derision about the 81-year-old’s health and fitness and how these factors might affect his bid for a second term in office.
While the concern about Biden’s age is extremely prevalent, former president Donald Trump hasn’t experienced the same feedback. This is despite the fact that, at 77 years of age (soon to be 78, in June), he’s not much younger than his opponent. News outlets and pundits have offered many thoughts on why the health and fitness issue is negatively impacting Biden but not Trump: Biden has white hair and hasn’t done anything to hide his age, while Trump dyes his hair and always looks tan; Biden’s had a few memory lapses on camera that make him look old while Trump’s simply a speaker who makes mistakes; and so on.
Reasons aside, the bottom line is, Biden’s age is a serious problem for him, while age hasn’t been as much of an issue for Donald Trump. Resonate’s AI-powered data engine, rAI, and the Resonate Ignite Platform have the real-time insights political campaign managers need to target voters, including microsegments of voters with strong feelings about non-policy issues like a candidate’s age.
Below, we’ll look at the insights rAI provides on the motivations, drivers, and values behind the voters who are concerned about Biden’s health and fitness and those who are worried about Trump’s health and fitness.
One major challenge rAI reveals for political operatives is the level of similarity between these groups of voters: They’re almost evenly split on number of males versus number of females. Their engagement level on social media is average, there are no significant differences in their income levels, similar percentages are 65 and older, and similar percentages have children under the age of 18.
Fortunately, rAI helps campaign managers figure out where these audiences are different, thus ensuring you know what they care about.
What are these voters’ political affiliations?
According to rAI, for voters who are concerned about Trump’s age, perhaps unsurprisingly, 54% are Democratic Party members, 26% are Independents, and 16% are Republicans.
For Biden, the percentages are little more even: 39% of voters who are concerned about the current president’s age are members of the Republican Party, while 27% are Democrats. Another 28% of these voters identify as Independents.
Voters who are extremely, very, or somewhat concerned about Biden’s health and fitness
For voters who indicated they are extremely, very, or somewhat concerned about Biden’s health and fitness, the top issue areas they are focused on right now are traditional Republican ones and include defending traditional marriage, developing alternative energy sources, and controlling illegal immigration.
Voters who are extremely, very, or somewhat concerned about Trump’s health and fitness
Voters who are very concerned about the health and fitness of Trump have different priorities when it comes to top issues. In line with current overall Democratic Party leanings, they care deeply about supporting pro-choice issues, enacting gun control, and promoting gender and race equality.
Other areas of significant difference include:
Social Media Consumption
Voters who are concerned about Biden’s age are more likely to be members of the social media platforms Instagram, Snapchat, and X (formerly known as Twitter) than voters who are worried about Trump’s age.
Health & Wellness Decisions
Voters worried about Biden’s age are 47% more likely than the baseline population of US adults to manage their health without prescription medications, whereas voters worried about Trump’s age are 37% more likely to believe vaccines are important.
2024 Election Concerns & Voting Plans
Voters who are worried about Biden’s age have a number of concerns they’re worried about for the next six months. Their top sources of anxiety include being evicted from their homes in the future, geopolitical concerns like terrorism, poor leadership in the US government, rising fuel and energy prices, and illegal immigration.
For voters who are worried about Trump’s age, three items rank high on their lists of concerns for the next six months: being impacted by extreme weather or natural disasters—likely an offshoot of worries about climate change and the forecasts of dire summer heat headed America’s way—the loss of abortion rights, and geopolitical concerns like terrorism and nuclear warfare. Of these, only the last, geopolitical concerns, is a worry they share with voters who are concerned about Biden’s health and fitness.
The majority of the voters worried about Biden’s age are undecided on who they trust to handle education, abortion, and foreign policy, which indicates they are persuadable on these issues. As for the voters who are worried about Trump’s age, the majority are undecided on who they trust to handle education and foreign policy.
To learn more about voter trends you need to be aware of to win votes in the 2024 election, read our latest Voter Trends Report.
Resonate is the leader in AI-powered voter intelligence. We have expertise in building and fine-tuning detailed data models and a decade’s worth of data that we use to target voters and make predictions about elections. Additionally, we also offer white-glove campaign management services to help you more effectively implement, target, and run political marketing campaigns. When you think about partners you want on your side in the election, you want to talk to the people who really know AI. You want to talk to Resonate.
