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SALT LAKE CITY — A majority of Utahns aren't concerned about Donald Trump's age as he campaigns for another term as president. But slightly more than half say elected officials shouldn't serve past age 70, and some would set the limit even younger.
It's an interesting juxtaposition as questions about whether the 78-year-old Trump — the oldest Republican presidential nominee in history — has the mental fitness to lead the country. If reelected in November, Trump would end his term just a few months short of his 83rd birthday, making him two years older than President Joe Biden is now.
A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found 60% of Utah voters are not too concerned or not concerned at all about Trump's age. Another 38% are very or somewhat concerned, while only 2% said they didn't know. HarrisX conducted the poll of 800 registered Utah voters Aug. 2-9. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Find the full dataset for the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute Utah poll on the HarrisX website.
Predictably, adherents to the two major political parties have vastly different views. The survey shows 83% of self-identified Democrats are concerned about the former president's age, while 79% of self-identified Republicans are not.
Still, 62% of Utahns say there should be a maximum age limit — meaning they must be under a certain age to be permitted to hold office — for elected officials, while 23% say there should not and 15% don't know.
More than half of those surveyed, 54%, who plan to vote for Trump in November say there should be an age limit. That figure swelled to 76% among those planning to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. Also, 72% of those who voted for Biden in 2020 favored a maximum age, compared to 51% of Trump voters.
"Utahns generally agree that there should be a maximum age for holding higher office, showing a shared concern about whether older leaders can remain effective. But when it comes to choosing specific candidates, many voters tend to stick with their party, even if it means supporting an older candidate. That shows how strong party loyalty is in our elections," said Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah.
Among those who say there should be a limit, 70 years old was the top choice across all political parties, most age groups and for both men and women. People under age 50 would put the limit at 65 years old, and 65 was the second most popular choice among all survey respondents. Republicans in the survey were more willing to push the cap to 80 than were Democrats. Overall, 70% of Utahns would set the age limit at 65 to 75 years old, according to the poll.
An October 2023 Deseret News/Hinckley Institute poll yielded similar results, though a greater percentage of respondents would go as high as 80 years old compared to the new survey.
Perry said the new polling shows a clear generational split. Younger voters — 79% of those in the 18-34 age group — favored a maximum age. Older voters, especially those over 65, are less likely to back age limits — only about 46% support it.
"That might be because they see themselves in these older candidates or believe that age brings valuable experience. On the other hand, younger voters, who are more likely to support age limits, want new ideas and are ready for a younger generation to take the lead. That generational divide underscores the complex ways age, experience, and party loyalty influence how people vote," he said.
In addition to Trump's age, the survey asked respondents about his cognitive ability to hold the nation's highest office. The former president has faced increased scrutiny over apparent memory lapses and public speaking gaffes since Biden pulled out of the race. "His lack of visibility highlights that the Republicans are now on the receiving end of the same age and coherence concerns they had used against Biden, and there might be more attention paid to Trump's lapses now that Biden has stepped aside," Heather Cox Richardson, author and professor of history at Boston College, wrote last month, per Newsweek.
With the 59-year-old Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket, rather than being on the attack against "Sleepy Joe," Trump is getting barbs about his age. At a fundraiser in California this month, Democratic presidential nominee Tim Walz, 60, called Trump "low energy," "tired" and the "guy that needs to get a little rest on the weekend."
The Utah poll found that 65% of Utahns say Trump is mentally fit to serve as president, while 35% say they have doubts about his mental fitness. Again, the responses diverged sharply between political parties. According to the survey, 87% of Republicans say Trump is mentally fit, while 91% of Democrats have doubts about that.
Combining fitness and age into a single question, the survey also asked, "Do you think Donald Trump is showing he is too old to be president or do you think he is showing he is fit to be president?"
On that question, 63% of Utahns say Trump is showing he is fit and 37% say he's showing that he is too old. Republicans overwhelmingly say the former president is fit, while Democrats overwhelmingly say he's too old.
