Last Thursday, as Townhall has been covering, Special Counsel Robert Hur's damning report against President Joe Biden came out with regards to his mishandling of classified documents, although he still won't be charged. The president is considered too old, which has led to a common refrain of wondering how he's too old to be president, then, especially for another term. That's been an obvious problem for the president, but there are certainly more, including how former and potentially future President Donald Trump, who was charged with the same thing, can point to hypocrisy. There's also how the American people don't like the treatment the special treatment that Biden received.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 53 percent of Americans, including 29 percent of Democrats, agree with the statement that "Biden received special treatment because he is the U.S. president."
Those findings highlight a crucial concern about Trump's classified documents case when it comes to the idea that there is a two-tiered justice system as Biden is weaponizing and politicizing his Department of Justice (DOJ) against his opponents. Not only are charges being brought against Trump, but Biden looks to be getting a free pass. Trump has vigorously highlighted that much in his statements about last Thursday's report.
This is only one of the indictments against Trump, though. And other polls have shown that respondents are concerned that the charges are politicized, as was the case with last August's CBS News poll.
In recent days, though, not only have the special counsel's report and such polls been released, but damning information about how Biden wants to go after his political opponents. As Matt covered, Politico revealed in a deep-dive piece over the weekend that Biden was particularly frustrated with the speed Attorney General Merrick Garland was moving with regards to the election interference case against Trump.
For Vice President Kamala Harris to fearmonger about how Trump would weaponize the DOJ is so tone-deaf it's almost laughable, as that's what the administration she's part of has already done, and from the start. And, when it comes to Harris, she's considered worse and even more unpopular than Biden, at a time when who the vice president and/or running mate is something that is particularly important this election.
Donald Trump applauds dictators and has said that’s the role he intends to take on if reelected.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 11, 2024
He has talked about weaponizing the Department of Justice to exact consequences on those whom he has determined are his political enemies.
The choice is clear in 2024.
One of the biggest, if not the biggest takeaway, from the report was that Biden had been portrayed "as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." The Reuters/Ipsos poll looked to that too, and found that 46 percent were at least somewhat familiar with those comments.
And this poll speaks to age as well. That's where the poll only gets worse for the president. As a write-up from Reuters noted, with added emphasis:
The poll results underscore potentially critical vulnerabilities for Biden as he seeks re-election. Some 78% of respondents in the poll - including 71% of Democrats - think Biden, already the oldest person ever to occupy the Oval Office, is too old to work in government.
In that regard, we should expect to see a lot more polls about Biden's age and mental fitness to serve another term. How can we not? I for one remain cautiously optimistic that even the mainstream media appears to be coming around to reporting such concerns, even if it angers Biden's most diehard supporters who would follow him blindly.
Last week we saw the release of an NBC News poll where a major takeaway was that 76 percent of voters are concerned about Biden's age. And then this week an ABC News poll found that 86 percent of voters believe Biden is too old to serve another term.
Those numbers are overwhelming. Even if everyone forgets about the findings from the special counsel tomorrow, Biden is objectively not getting any younger.
The White House's response, including and especially when Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has spoken to Biden's cognitive abilities has been so poor they're downright offensive to the intelligence of the American people. Every public event Biden has involves some mishap or other, including ones with foreign leaders speaking about international crises, as was the case from Monday night when both he and King Abdullah II of Jordan gave remarks. They really expect us to not believe our lying eyes, though, it seems.
Among the most laughable of the non-answers from Jean-Pierre included her claim that Biden does more than one hour than most people do in a day. His publicized daily schedule does not reflect that, though.
Biden's WH Press Secretary: "President Biden does more in one hour than most people do in a day."
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 13, 2024
Biden's WH schedule: https://t.co/uCrRh8MvzL
The poll also looked to how Trump and Biden fare against each other in a hypothetical rematch that's looking increasingly likely. Trump has 37 percent support while Biden has 34 percent, with Trump's lead being right at the plus or minus 2.9 percent margin of error. Ten percent would vote for other candidates, while 12 percent would not vote.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted over four days and ended on Monday, so the special counsel's report was at least fresh on respondents' minds. There were 1,237 U.S. adults surveyed.
RealClearPolling currently has Trump leading Biden +1.2, with 45 to 43.8 percent. In a three-way race with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. included, Trump leads with 39 percent to Biden's 34 percent and Kennedy's 16.8 percent.
Will these findings be enough for voters who wouldn't otherwise vote for Trump come over to support him? Considering that Trump has already been speaking out against a weaponized and politicized DOJ being used against him, it doesn't seem like he'll have an issue using such a narrative to help him for November, assuming he does so in a smart enough way. Time will tell how this all plays out. We still have around nine months until the election, a lifetime in some ways and not so long in others. With all that's gone on so far, it does seem like just about anything could happen.