Perhaps the most striking poll came Tuesday, ahead of Trump’s first State of the Union address of his second term, which beat his own record for the longest speech to Congress.
The Reuters-Ipsos poll showed 61% of Americans agreed that Trump has “become erratic with age.” Even 30% of Republicans agreed with that sentiment.
The survey harks back to some surveys in Trump’s first term, when many Americans grew to question his mental acuity. But while the percentage of registered voters saying he wasn’t “mentally stable” approached 50% in Quinnipiac University polling following the attack on the US Capitol in 2021, it never crested a majority — much less hitting 61%. (“Erratic” is, of course, not the same as “unstable.” But they are along the same lines.)
The Reuters-Ipsos poll also showed a decrease in the percentage of Americans who say Trump is “mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges.” That number has dropped from 54% in September 2023 to 45% today.
But Trump — who often boasts about acing cognitive tests and who spoke for an hour and 47 minutes on Tuesday night — is still nowhere close to where Biden was; only around one-quarter of Americans said Biden was mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges in July 2024, the month he dropped out of the race.
Other polls echo these findings, including one from CNN last month.
That survey showed the percentage saying Trump has the “stamina and sharpness to serve effectively as president” declining from 53% in late 2023 to 46% today.
That 46% is still well clear of where Biden was in 2023 (between 25% and 32%).
A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll last week showed majorities said Trump didn’t have the mental sharpness (56%) or physical health (51%) it takes to serve effectively.
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