A majority of Americans don’t believe Joe Biden will survive another term — but experts say it’s actually Donald Trump who is less likely to survive the next four years.
That is the conclusion of professors at the University of Chicago and the University of Hawaii, who said that the 81-year-old President Biden, who is prone to blunders, is older than the 77-year-old Trump, but that he has a better diet, better exercise and better genetics, three drivers of longevity.
The researchers were responsible for a controversial one report during the 2020 presidential campaign – where they gave Biden a 95 percent chance of surviving until 2024 and Trump a 90 percent chance.
While they haven’t fully spoken out on the issue this time around, they made their latest preliminary predictions in an op-ed published earlier this month.
The experts said there was a 75 percent chance that Biden would survive until 2028, when he will be 85. But for Trump, they said the odds were “slightly less favorable.” Either way, whoever wins will be the oldest president in history.
The chart above shows some of the key factors the researchers took into account when estimating which man was more likely to survive another term in office
It comes as age becomes a salient issue in this year’s election – with only a quarter of Americans believing Biden has mental and cognitive health to serve another term.
Nikki Haley – who is trailing Trump in the polls for Republican candidates – has called for cognitive tests for presidents.
Chicago professor S. Jay Olshansky revealed his new life expectancy for Trump and Biden in a commentary piece for The hill. It was co-authored by Dr. Bradley Willcox, a geriatrician at the University of Hawaii, who was also involved in the 2020 report.
He pointed out Trump’s infamous love of fast food and soda, as well as his poor sleeping habits (he once claimed he slept only three hours a night).
Olshansky also highlighted that Trump’s father suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, meaning there could be a genetic risk.
Biden, on the other hand, eats healthy and reportedly exercises almost every morning.
All four of his younger siblings are also still alive and dementia has not previously been diagnosed in the family.
“There is nothing unusual about our conclusion,” he told DailyMail.com, “it is what the evidence suggests.”
“The data speaks for itself.”
President Joe Biden is helped to his feet after a fall during the graduation ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado. He fell while handing out diplomas to cadets
The former president’s fondness for fast food is known around the world. He told Fox News that due to his busy schedule he doesn’t have time to eat like a normal person would, but did not reveal what his diet consists of.
The results come despite Biden appearing increasingly confused during public appearances, and despite a spate of terrifying falls.
Earlier this month, the 81-year-old was filmed appearing to be “lost” while visiting a bike shop in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
And last year, the president had to be helped by members of the Secret Service when he fell while attending a ceremony in Colorado.
Several doctors have told DailyMail.com in recent weeks that former President Trump appears thinner, unusually shakier and weaker – amid mounting legal troubles.
On Biden’s blunders, Dr. Olshansky said they did not raise major concerns, saying: “It is also common to mistake Biden’s lifelong speech impediment for cognitive decline, his cough for an inability to speak clearly, his altered gait for a man in significant decline. occasional misrepresentation as a sign of mental decay, etc.
‘Each of us faces our own challenges with age – this is no reason to reject and throw this away. It is a recognition that with the privilege of longevity comes changes that require adaptation.
“We see them in Biden because he is in the spotlight 24/7.
‘Send the same bright light of the media on the rest of us – at any age – and few would survive the scrutiny without a similarly negative profile.’
The researchers told DailyMail.com they were politically ‘neutral’ and had never worked or campaigned for either party.
Dr. Olshansky also called the two men “super-agers” – or people whose physical and cognitive health resembles that of much younger men.
But he has previously told the AP: “Biden will likely outlast Trump because he has fewer harmful risk factors and he exercises quite a bit, while Trump does not.
“(But overall) they’re both functioning at a very high level.”
He added: ‘If you don’t like what they say, it’s not because they’re so old. It’s because you don’t like what they say.’
In the poll, 51% of Democrats also said they did not want to see another run by the incumbent president
Former President Donald Trump has a six-point lead over President Joe Biden in a new Reuters-Ipsos poll