Majority of One State’s Older Voters Think Trump Is in ‘Poor’ Health—Poll

Older voters in Vermont—a Democratic stronghold—think former President Donald Trump is in “very poor” health, according to a new poll.
The poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, found that 61 percent of voters aged 65 and older in the state think Trump’s physical and mental fitness are “very poor.”
That is compared with 58 percent of respondents aged 50-64 years old and 40 percent of those aged 35-49 years old. The 18-34 years old age group were the least likely to say Trump was in “very poor” health, with only 37 percent of them saying this.
Overall, 50 percent of the 934 respondents said Trump’s physical and mental fitness were “very poor.”
In Vermont, the Democratic presidential candidate has won in every White House race since 1992. The poll showed Vice President Kamala Harris up 41 points (70 percent to 29 percent) in the state.
Newsweek has contacted the University of New Hampshire Survey Center for comment.
“That poll is false and skews Democrat,” Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director told Newsweek. “The truth is that President Trump has more energy and more stamina than anyone in politics. The Democrats and Kamala Harris are the ones who are sick because of all the hurt they have caused this country. From skyrocketing inflation, an out-of-control border, and crime decimating American cities, there is only one person who can bring our country back to prominence—President Donald J. Trump.”
Trump, 78, had spent much of his campaign targeting President Joe Biden over his age and cognitive ability, calling him a “brain-dead zombie” and “sleepy Joe.” The 81-year-old ended his reelection campaign on July 21 after a disastrous debate performance in which he appeared to slur his words and lose his train of thought on multiple occasions.
However, Trump himself has not been immune to speculation surrounding his cognitive ability.
In January, concerns were raised when he appeared to confuse Nikki Haley with former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Meanwhile, speaking to Stat this week, experts in memory, psychology, and linguistics noted a decline in the former president’s verbal complexity since 2017, which has also been coupled with a rise in disjointed and sometimes incoherent speech patterns. Several experts claim that Trump’s 2024 speeches contain shorter sentences, more repetition, and muddled word order, as well as “extended digressions.”
The experts said the changes could be attributed to causes including mood changes, natural aging, or the “beginnings of a cognitive condition like Alzheimer’s disease,” according to Stat.
Despite the concerns, Trump has previously said that he has “aced” cognitive tests on more than one occasion and that he feels “sharper now than I did 20 years ago”.
Some 14 percent of respondents to the University of New Hampshire survey said they thought Trump has “very good” physical and mental fitness. That included 6 percent of respondents 18-34 years old, 22 percent of those aged 35 to 49 years, 16 percent of those aged 50 to 64 years old and 15 percent of those aged 65 and older.
Twelve percent of respondents said they thought Trump’s physical and mental fitness was “good.”
By contrast, 62 percent of respondents said Kamala Harris has “very good” physical and mental fitness, while 16 percent said her health was “good”, while 6 percent said it was “very poor.”
Only 4 percent of voters aged 65 and older said they thought Kamala Harris’ physical and mental fitness was “very poor,” while 64 percent of that age group said her health was “very good,” making them the age group with the most positive view of Harris’ health.
The most likely age group to rate Harris’ health as “very poor” was those aged 35 to 49 years old, with 10 percent of that age group choosing that option. Sixty-three percent of the same age group said her physical and mental fitness was “very good.”
The poll surveyed 988 residents of Vermont, a historically Democratic state, between August 15 and August 19. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.
It was the first poll to be conducted in Vermont since Harris entered the race.
The poll showed overall, Harris is well ahead of Trump among likely voters in Vermont in a head-to-head matchup, 70 percent to 29 percent. When third party candidates were included, Harris was leading Trump by 40 points.
In June, before Biden’s withdrawal from the race, 61 percent of Vermonters supported Biden and 24 percent supported Trump.
In 2020, Biden won Vermont by 36 points. The last Republican presidential candidate to win the state was President George H.W. Bush in 1988.
Updated 8/22/2024 at 3:05 p.m. ET: The headline has been updated for clarity.