DeSantis needles Trump, Biden over their ages

Former President Donald Trump and President Biden are both too old to run the country effectively, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis argued Tuesday. 

An “energetic president” is needed in the Oval Office, according to the 2024 White House hopeful, who called the advanced age of the Republican presidential primary front-runner and the sitting commander-in-chief a “legitimate concern” for voters in an interview with “CBS Evening News” host Norah O’Donnell. 

“I think that’s absolutely a legitimate concern. The presidency is not a job for someone who is 80 years old,” DeSantis, 44, said when O’Donnell asked if the electorate should be concerned about Trump and Biden’s age.

Trump, 77, would be 82 years old by the end of his second term in office if he were to defeat Biden in 2024. 

Biden, 80, is already the oldest president in US history and would be 86 years old by the end of his second term, if re-elected.

“There’s nothing wrong with being 80. 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%,” DeSantis argued.

“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’ concerns are echoed by most voters, according to a recent survey.  

An overwhelming majority of Americans, 77%, say they feel that Biden is too old to effectively govern if he wins a second term in office, according to an Associated Press-NORC poll released last month. 

More than half of Americans, 51%, also have misgivings about Trump’s age if he were to win the 2024 White House race, the poll showed. 

DeSantis contends that because of his relative youth, voters will flock to his campaign in a head-to-head matchup against Biden in 2024. 

“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,” he said.