DeSantis suggests Biden, Trump too old to be president

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday suggested that neither President Joe Biden nor former President Donald Trump were of an appropriate age to lead the nation.

Appearing on CBS News, the governor fielded a question as to the ages of Biden, 80, and Trump, 77. Biden is the oldest president elected in U.S. history while Trump previously held that title.

"I think that's absolutely a legitimate concern," the governor said. "The presidency's not a job for someone that's 80 years old, and 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 percent. We need an energetic president," he continued. "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."

"It seems like our leadership class now in Washington, 75, 80, 80+ years old, is where those folks are and I think Americans ... are gonna want to see a generational passing of the torch," he concluded.

The Florida governor, 44, is currently seeking the Republican nomination and stands in second place against Trump, albeit by roughly 40 points in most polls.

DeSantis joins fellow Republican candidate Nikki Haley in opining that Americans may prefer a younger leader. Haley, for her part, has repeatedly called for generational change and suggested that Biden, in particular, may not live through a second term.

"I think that we can all be very clear and say with a matter of fact that if you vote for Joe Biden you really are counting on a President Harris, because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely," she said in April.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.