Most Republicans say they would prefer a president younger than Trump, poll finds

Most Republicans would prefer a president younger than former President Donald Trump, who turned 78 in June, according to new polling.

In the latest YouGov poll, 59% of Republican respondents said that, in general, they would be partial to a president who is 75 years old or younger. This includes 10% who favor someone between 35 and 49, 33% who favor someone between 50 and 64 and 16% who would like someone between 65 and 75.

Only 2% of GOP respondents said they would favor a commander-in-chief older than 75, while 40% said they had no age preference.

A larger percentage of Democrats, 76%, said they would prefer a president 75 or younger. This includes a majority, 54%, who said they would like someone between 50 and 64. Vice President Kamala Harris — the likely Democratic nominee — is 59.

Meanwhile, 24% of Democratic respondents said they had no age preference.

The poll, conducted between July 25 and 29, sampled 2,266 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.

Additional findings

The poll also asked respondents to rate the importance of 40 traits in a president. These included their intelligence, their religion and their gender.

The top five ranked traits were: leadership skills, their decision-making abilities, honesty, mental health and vision for the country’s future. Ninety-six percent or more of respondents said these traits were somewhat or very important.

The five lowest ranked traits were: their wealth, physical attractiveness, whether they grew up in an urban or rural area, race and the region of the country they’re from. Between 14% and 21% of respondents listed these traits as somewhat or very important.

When broken down by partisan affiliation, Democrats and Republicans were largely aligned on the importance of most traits, though there were some exceptions.

The starkest difference came over one trait: their criminal record.

Seventy-nine percent of Democrats said it was very important, while 25% of Republicans said the same, marking a 54-point difference. Notably, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his Manhattan hush money trial in May.

A smaller, but significant, gap was found between Republicans and Democrats over empathy as a trait. Forty-eight percent of Republicans said it was “very important,” while 73% of Democrats said the same.

Two demographic traits also sparked a partisan divide.

When asked about sexual orientation, 8% of Democrats said it was very important, while 30% of Republicans said the same. And asked about religion, 8% of Democrats said it was very important, while 23% of Republicans said the same.

Further, Democrats were significantly more likely to value educational attainment, with 50% saying it is very important, compared to 35% of Republicans.

Republicans were also more likely to value — by small margins — the following traits: their mental health, positions on economic issues, relationships with foreign leaders and ability to inspire Americans.

In contrast, and by similarly small margins, Democrats were more likely to value: their intelligence, integrity, commitment to democracy and ability to work with Congress.

This story was originally published August 1, 2024 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Most Republicans say they would prefer a president younger than Trump, poll finds."