With a younger rival to emerge, the focus is likely to turn to ex-president, 78, and his often rambling, confused speeches<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With 78-year-old Donald Trump<\/a> now certain to face a Democratic candidate younger than he is, the Republican could have the tables turned on him over the questions of age and mental agility that he often sidestepped while Joe Biden was his opponent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The age gap between Trump and any of his likely Democrat opponents \u2013 Kamala Harris<\/a>, 59; Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, 52; Pennsylvania\u2019s Josh Shapiro, 51 \u2013 could make him the sole focus of voters\u2019 desire for a generational handover of power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And with Biden\u2019s often stumbling public appearances \u2013 and especially his disastrous debate \u2013 now a thing of the past, there is likely to be a fresh focus on Trump\u2019s mental acuity and his frequently rambling, confused campaign speeches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last month, for example, Trump got the name of his own<\/a> doctor wrong. Previously he has made high-profile campaign trail gaffes, in which he seemed to think Barack Obama was still president and mistook<\/a> his arch Republican rival Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nearly 60% of US voters said last month that Biden should \u201cdefinitely\u201d or \u201cprobably\u201d be replaced, while Trump\u2019s favorability rating had risen to 40% since his hush-money conviction and the attempt on his life eight days ago. Harris\u2019s favorability sits at around 39%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden\u2019s departure from the ticket upends several aspects of Republican\u2019s calculations, including that Trump the felon will now possibly have to debate Harris the former prosecutor in September \u2013 if she receives the nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The vice-president proved her debating skills in 2019 when she delivered a highly personal attack on Biden on the issue of race that he later described as \u201churtful\u201d and chilled relations between the Biden-Harris camps before she was named vice-president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Political commentator Anthony Michael Kreis posted on Twitter\/X soon after Biden\u2019s announcement: \u201cI can\u2019t believe the GOP is running an old guy for president. Yikes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s reaction to his recent assassination attempt \u2013 pumping his fist and mouthing \u201cFight, fight, fight!\u201d \u2013 has been full of vigor and helped unify his Republican party behind him and after his brush with death, he vowed to run a \u201cunity\u201d campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that pledge dissolved on Saturday when he returned to disparaging Biden, Harris and the Democratic agenda and has been delivering his usual rants on the campaign trail, often laced with conspiracy theories and even a repeated and bizarre<\/a> reference to a shark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After Biden announced he would abandon his re-election effort, Trump responded to Biden\u2019s announcement, saying his now ex-rival was not fit to run for president and \u201cnot fit to serve\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump said last week he didn\u2019t think that switching out Biden for Harris \u201cwould make much difference\u201d, he told Bloomberg<\/a>. \u201cI would define her in a very similar [way] that I define him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A pro-Trump Super Pac accused Harris on Sunday of being \u201cin on\u201d a cover-up of Biden\u2019s \u201cmental decline\u201d, and characterized her as the driving force behind the administration\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf says that Trump\u2019s \u201cless than gracious\u201d response to Biden stepping down is something Democrats<\/a> will hope continues as a successor to Biden emerges. \u201cTrump is reverting to type, Biden is out of the picture, and Trump is the only one who can seize defeat from the jaws of victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWithout having Biden as his opponent, and calling him \u2018Sleepy Joe\u2019, who is he going to rail against? How he attacks a woman is very different but you can already tell from the way he attacked Biden on Sunday that he\u2019s not thinking clearly. His vitriol has taken over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDemocrats will be able to use Harris as an offensive chess piece in the suburbs of the country, women\u2019s right to chose and reproductive freedom, and hope that Trump screws up by overreacting so they can accuse him of bring incapable of controlling himself because of his age,\u201d Sheinkopf said, \u201cand it becomes a different race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n