Words Americans use to describe 2024 choice: Senile vs. criminal
Byron York
WORDS AMERICANS USE TO DESCRIBE 2024 CHOICE: SENILE VS. CRIMINAL. The RealClearPolitics average of head-to-head polls between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump is virtually tied. Biden has a 1-point edge, with 44.6% to Trump’s 43.6%. But it’s very clear from many, many polls that most people don’t like their choice. They would prefer other candidates to Biden and Trump. But right now, at least, that’s what they’ve got.
The widespread frustration with a Biden vs. Trump election is strikingly demonstrated in a new poll from the Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center. The researchers asked a very simple question: “What’s the first word or phrase that comes to mind when you think of Joe Biden?” They then asked the same question about Trump. They collected answers into word groups and measured how much each group applied to each man.
The results were brutal. For Biden, only 29% came up with a word or phrase that could be categorized as positive. Some simply answered that Biden is the president. Some said he is strong, capable, or competent. So that was 29%.
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Far, far more people, 69%, described Biden in negative terms. Twenty-six percent described him as “old/outdated/retire/elderly/aging/senile/dementia.” Another 15% used these words: “slow/confused/idiot/ignorant/sleepy/gaffe/bumbling.” Another 13% used some phrase of general negativity, describing Biden as “bad/terrible/disappointing/joke/profanity.” Six percent called Biden “corrupt/criminal/crooked/compromised/traitor/con artist/puppet.” All in all, it was a terrible measure of the low regard in which many people hold the president.
Then came Trump. Exactly the same number as with Biden, 29%, described Trump in positive terms. He is a leader, or he is “strong/capable/competent/levelheaded/diplomatic/deal-maker.” Some described him as a patriot or hero.
Then, nearly as many people as with Biden, 65%, described Trump in negative terms. And the answers were just as brutal as Biden’s. The largest single group of people, 15%, described Trump as “corrupt/criminal/crooked/compromised/traitor/con artist/puppet.” A total of 20% called Trump “narcissist/egotistical/selfish/greedy,” “angry/dramatic/bully/mean/jerk/cruel/bossy/hateful/loudmouth,” or “liar/dishonest/untrustworthy/disingenuous/fake/pandering/sneaky.” And then, there were the 6% of respondents who called Trump “crazy/dangerous/radical/unpredictable/scary/reckless/childish.”
The basic point in all this is clear: Majorities of people don’t like either man and don’t want either to be president starting in 2025. But there are some intriguing differences.
People make a clear distinction between the effect aging has had on Biden, at 80, and Trump, at 77. In a separate poll question, 77% of Americans overall, including 69% of Democrats and 89% of Republicans, said Biden is “too old to effectively serve another 4-year term as president.” For Trump, the number was 51%, with 71% of Democrats and just 28% of Republicans saying he is too old.
Many more people applied words suggesting feebleness and senility to Biden than to Trump. Add the 26% who called him “old/outdated/retire/elderly/aging/senile/dementia” and the 15% who called him “slow/confused/idiot/ignorant/sleepy/gaffe/bumbling,” and you have 41% of respondents who chose pretty damning words to describe Biden. For Trump, just 1% said he is “old/outdated/retire/elderly/aging/senile/dementia,” and 3% said “slow/confused/idiot/ignorant/sleepy/gaffe/bumbling” applied to him. That’s a big difference.
Results for the two men were a little closer, although clearly tilted toward Trump, on the subject of corruption. Starting with Trump, add the 15% who called him “corrupt/criminal/crooked/compromised/traitor/con artist/puppet” and the 8% who called him “liar/dishonest/untrustworthy/disingenuous/fake/pandering/sneaky,” and you have 23% of respondents who applied terms suggesting corruption to the former president. For Biden, 6% called him “corrupt/criminal/crooked/compromised/traitor/con artist/puppet,” and 2% called him “liar/dishonest/untrustworthy/disingenuous/fake/pandering/sneaky.” Biden’s total, 8%, is significantly smaller than Trump’s 23%.
It’s not hard to see why the public would apply “old/senile” to Biden. For 2 1/2 years, the public has seen the president slowing down, becoming occasionally confused, and deteriorating in front of their eyes. No amount of spin can convince them they are not seeing what they are seeing.
It’s also not hard to see why the public would apply “corrupt/criminal” to Trump, given that two elected Democratic prosecutors, plus the Biden Justice Department, have indicted the former president four times, with a total of 91 criminal charges. The message goes out every day: Trump = criminal. The new poll suggests the message is getting through.
What does it mean? As a whole, people are sending a desperate call: We don’t like either of these guys. But so far, the political parties, supported by their base voters, appear determined to put Biden and Trump on the ballot in 2024. If that is the case, voters will do what they always do, which is choose the candidate they dislike the least. But in this race, it’s not clear which man that will be.
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