Kamala Harris celebrates her 60th birthday on Sunday, but it is US election rival Donald Trump whose age is under scrutiny after a series of speeches and a bizarre dance party.
Seeking to shift the election in an extremely tight White House race, Harris has stepped up attacks on the mental fitness of the 78-year-old, who is the oldest presidential candidate in US history.
“Donald Trump is becoming increasingly unstable,” Democratic Vice President Harris said after she spent nearly 40 minutes dancing to the music on stage at a town hall event on Wednesday.
Harris is unlikely to take time off from the campaign trail for her birthday as she and Republican former President Trump work on key battleground states that could decide the November 5 vote.
The US presidential election is a huge test of stamina for any candidate – but the 2024 race is unusually focused on age.
Harris’ remarkable surge to the top of the Democratic ticket came as President Joe Biden, 81, was forced to concede defeat after a disastrous debate performance against Trump.
Biden’s replacement as vice president, two decades his junior, gave the party’s electoral hopes a shot in the arm as Harris trailed Trump in the polls.
Trump said this immediately after Biden’s departure.
“She’s short,” Trump told Fox News at the time. “I mean, she’s 60 years old… I didn’t realize she was 60 years old. I thought she was a little younger. But she’s 60 years old.”
But with voting stalled for several weeks, Harris has played the age card more and more.
The Democrat released his own medical report on October 12, describing him in “excellent health” and fit for the presidency, with the only minor health problems being seasonal allergies and hives.
After this, he repeatedly put pressure on Trump for refusing to do so.
‘Gender discrimination against older women’
The billionaire has instead cited a note released last year by his former White House doctor and his campaign emphasizing his resiliency.
Harris’s campaign has stressed that Trump is not ready to run for a second term, citing his medical history as a reason to stop, as well as a series of canceled television interviews and political events.
“What is Donald Trump trying to hide?”. Harris said on X.
His campaign has also highlighted Trump’s increasingly dark and erratic stump speeches and interviews, in which he recently raised the possibility of using the US military against the “enemy within”.
Polls show this is a strong issue for Harris.
Pew Research Center polling showed that the percentage of people calling Trump “mentally sharp” dropped from 58 percent in July to 52 percent in September.
And while 49 percent of voters said Trump’s age would hurt his candidacy, 46 percent of voters said Harris’ age would help hers.
But it is also difficult to strike a balance in an election where the age of voters is also a major issue.
Harris enjoys solid support among younger voters, but also among older voters, who may find Trump’s attacks on her age swinging her way – in a recent CBS poll, voters aged 45-64 are more likely to side with Trump than with Harris. 53 percent to 46 percent, while among voters age 65 and older it increases from 57 percent to 42 percent.
Yet Harris also faces implicit biases about age, said Nancy Hirschman, a professor of American social thought at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Their age does have an impact in a sense, America’s sexism certainly hits older women,” Hirschman told AFP.
Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance found himself under scrutiny for comments a few years ago in which he called the top Democrat a “childless cat lady” and made dismissive comments about post-menopausal women. Had appeared.
Harris has two stepchildren from her marriage to Doug Emhoff, her “second gentleman.”
“There’s an additional layer of sexism against women over the age of 50,” Hirschman said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)