Donald Trump receives much less criticism for his old age, verbal flubs and mental errors than Joe Biden, because this fits his personality, experts claim.
Biden, 81, has been under siege by Republicans and the press in recent days after a special counsel report raised alarm about his mental capabilities.
The report did not recommend charges for Biden who may have withheld classified documents, in part because a jury would see him as “a likable, well-meaning older man with a poor memory.”
The president held a news conference Thursday to dispute the report, but made matters worse by confusing Mexico and Egypt.
The 77-year-old Trump has his own blunders that should alarm his supporters, including confusing the names of people and places and appearing physically weak.
Donald Trump has taken to dancing on stage at his rallies, which, combined with his bombastic personality and the fact that he looks younger through fake tan and hair dye, has helped him avoid criticism for his many blunders.
US Vice President Joe Biden stumbles as he walks onto the stage to deliver a speech at Paddington Town Hall in Sydney on July 20, 2016
But rather than undermine his appeal, they appear to be increasing it, or at least ignoring it, as very few of his supporters say his age concerns them.
Experts believe that Trump’s flamboyant stage presence at his rallies and speeches throughout his presidency makes them all part of the show.
He regularly mocks Biden’s age and perceived vulnerability with hyperbolic caricatures and even dances to bombastic music as he takes the stage.
Trump also cuts a much more imposing figure than Biden, standing 6 feet tall and keeping himself looking relatively youthful by dyeing his hair and lathering himself in fake tan.
Carol Kinsey Goman, a speaker and leadership coach, said blunders look like “weakness” when Biden makes them, but Trump regularly gets away with them.
“When Trump makes this kind of faux pas, he brushes it off, and people don’t say, ‘Oh, he’s getting older,’” she told the newspaper. New York Times.
‘He makes at least as many mistakes as Joe Biden, but because he does it with this bravado, it doesn’t look like senility. It looks like passion.’
A recent Siena College poll of six swing states found that 70 percent of voters were concerned about Biden’s age, but less than half were concerned about Trump’s.
Other Democrats have noticed the same double standard, including Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan, who admitted it concerns him.
“Even though we know there is a three-and-a-half year gap between the two candidates, it looks like one side will hold out a little longer, and that will be a concern,” he said.
“Donald Trump is in many ways more of an entertainer than a politician. And I think there’s just different expectations and that’s why he gets away with it.”
Political commentator Larry Sabato made similar comments last year, saying Trump’s base was not listening to any criticism of him.
‘They don’t care, even if they think it’s right, but it is important. Maybe the press releases should be more balanced,” he said.
“If President Biden’s age and the questions about his so-called mental acuity or race may be exactly the same, this should be mentioned for Donald Trump.
‘I think that would be fair. And I have to say, Jim, I just hope President Putin’s feelings aren’t hurt by the good things Trump said about Orban. You know, I hope he doesn’t turn dictator here.’
Trump has repeatedly incorrectly referred to former President Barack Obama when he meant Biden or Hilary Clinton.
“With Obama, we won an election that they said couldn’t be won,” he said of his 2016 election victory, which actually fell to Clinton.
He also said that Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called on “President Obama” to resign and be “replaced by Trump.”
‘The head of Hungary, Viktor Orban, very powerful in his country and abroad. They interviewed him two weeks ago and said, what would President Obama advise?’ he said.
The whole world seems to explode and implode. He said: “It’s very simple: he must resign immediately and be replaced by President Trump, who has kept the world safe.”
He also wrongly called Orban the ‘leader of Turkey’.
A month earlier, he greeted his audience in Sioux City, Iowa, as “Sioux Falls,” which is actually a city in South Dakota.
“I always say we’re going to win Iowa. My people said you can’t assume that,” Trump told his audience at the ornate Orpheum Theater in Sioux City, Iowa.
In another speech, Trump said North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was in charge of a country of 1.4 billion people.