RAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Hundreds of miles from a White House on defense about President Biden’s age, a small group of fellow octogenarians had some advice for the commander in chief: One 85-year-old prescribes plenty of naps. An 81-year-old grandfather swears by hanging out with younger advisers — such as his grandchildren. And an 80-year-old says to ignore the haters.

“Eighty is the new 70,” declared semiretired, motorcycle-riding minister John Rozeboom, 81, who toted overflowing plastic bags of groceries in a Meijer parking lot. Rozeboom said he would prefer voting for Biden, 81, over Donald Trump, who he said “has lost his marbles.” “If Joe would just step up his pace a little bit when he walks around, he could fool people better,” said Rozeboom, suggesting Biden has a fixable image problem.

As Biden seeks reelection as the oldest president in history, his age has become a focal point this year, with polls showing majorities of voters in his party saying he is too old to be president and his verbal and physical stumbles under a constant spotlight. In pursuit of a second term, Biden is running against a likely general opponent in Trump, 77, who has faced questions of his own about longevity and acuity, some voters in their age group are contemplating the demands of the job and how each would fare.

While some mostly Democratic seniors in Kent County — a once reliable GOP-stronghold in a key swing state that has shifted left since Trump won in 2016 — reflected on their own experience with aging, they expressed both worries for Biden rooted in their own age-related troubles and hope that he could better adapt himself to the rigors of the job in the next four years.

Perceptions among Americans over 65 are expected to be a major factor in this year’s election as they have turned out more than any other age group. Seniors have consistently favored Republicans and Trump won voters 65 and up by five points in 2020, according to exit polls.

Some of Biden’s contemporaries in this key swing state voiced anger at recent attacks by critics on Biden over his age after this month’s special counsel report detailed concerns that Biden’s memory had lapsed in interviews about classified documents.

Gussie Farris, 85, a usually cheery Democratic organizer in Grand Rapids, was fuming after days of watching news coverage about the special counsel that she thought needlessly fixated on minor lapses in memory and what she saw as a juvenile throng of White House reporters shouting at the president during a news conference after the report was released.

Farris slammed her slight hand on a veneer conference room table, telling a group of seniors at a planning meeting for the Grand Rapids-based Advocates for Senior Issues that they should take age-related critiques against Biden personally.

“They are out there insulting us like we don’t know anything,” she said to nodding heads around the room. “I’m pissed off.”

At the same time, she wondered why Biden’s younger aides couldn’t do more to show the president at work, from taking calls with foreign dignitaries to leading critical policy discussions. The White House has amped up its digital media strategy in recent years, increasingly showing the president engaging with social media personalities, while opting for fewer news conferences and sit-down interviews with mainstream outlets than his recent predecessors. A White House spokesman pointed to Biden’s most recent public engagements, including a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and intimate interactions with voters.

Why didn’t a staffer help control the unruly press commotion she saw on TV after Biden’s comments on the special counsel report, she wondered. What if Biden did more to play off the age-related questions with jokes, suggested Lody Zwarensteyn, a 76-year-old Independent seated beside Farris, who said he intends to vote for Biden.

“That’s a great idea,” Farris replied.

Does age matter?

Others suggested different solutions and added that they have felt like aging isn’t what it used to be, as the average life expectancy has gone up over time and it’s easier to age than ever before. Plus, they reasoned, presidents are well taken care of in ways others aren’t.

“Unlike many of us who travel, when you’re president, you’re basically first class and can sleep,” 73-year-old Ginger Randall said.

Even Taylor Swift probably naps sometimes, Zwarensteyn added.

“Accommodations can be made,” Farris agreed. The 85-year-old said she’s found naps help her get more done during the day — and she suggested they might benefit Biden.

About 4 in 10 adults 65 and older (41 percent) said only Biden is too old for another term, higher than Americans overall, an ABC News/Ipsos poll found. Another 47 percent of those 65 and up said both Biden and Trump are too old for another term, and 3 percent said just Trump is too old, according to the survey, which was conducted in the days after the special counsel report’s release.

Americans as a whole have also tended to see age as a bigger problem for Biden than Trump. Fifty-nine percent of Americans said both Biden and Trump are too old for another term as president, while 27 percent said just Biden is too old and 3 percent said just Trump is too old, according to the poll.

In the Beacon Hill retirement community tucked in a quiet East Grand Rapids suburb, 81-year-old Barry Johnson said it is important at his age to ask for assistance. He pointed to his friend Carol Townsend, 79, seated on a nearby couch in a common area and relayed a story of recently helping her flip her mattress when she couldn’t do it herself.

Whether it be furniture or running the country, when you’re older, you need to know when to ask for help, he said. Biden can, but Trump can’t, he added, saying he thinks the former president appears less willing to take in the input of others.

“The really problematic combination is someone who is autocratic by nature getting older,” said Johnson, who added he intends to vote for Biden. “What we all learn here is when we get older we need to be willing to rely on other people. The ability to be collaborative, to listen to others, to learn from others, is more important the older you get.”

Johnson, who has yet to retire even though two of his children have and he jokes most of his kids have received invitations to AARP, said he provides his decades of experience to his younger partners — and having co-workers from later generations has helped him.

“In our daily lives, we want to pick a doctor who can do a good job,” Townsend said. “Having the ability to pick competent people in your Cabinet is one thing, and then to listen to them.”

Who are you?

During recent public addresses, Biden has had some difficulties with names, at one point appearing to forget the name of Hamas. During a campaign speech in Las Vegas this month, Biden appeared to confuse France’s current president, Emmanuel Macron, and former president Francois Mitterrand, who died in 1996.

In the special counsel report, Biden was cleared of any charges in connection with his handling of classified documents. But the report said Biden had “limited precision and recall,” specifically alleging Biden did not recall when his time as vice president began or ended or the date of his son’s death. Special counsel Robert K. Hur called Biden “a well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Hours after the report’s release, a defiant Biden slammed its commentary about his memory, telling reporters gathered at the White House that “I’m well meaning, and I’m an elderly man, and I know what the hell I’m doing.” But in the same televised appearance, he confused the president of Egypt with the president of Mexico, which the Republican opposition seized on.

Trump has previously referred to running against former President Barack Obama in speeches although he never did. In a December speech in New Hampshire, he named his Republican opponent Nikki Haley when he was apparently referring to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Trump has claimed he is intentional with such flubs.

Johnson, Townsend and others in the group said there were surely times they couldn’t remember names or information. But that had been the case when they were younger, too. Still, they acknowledged, sometimes it seems to happen more often than it used to.

“Sometimes, it’s like ‘I’m 80,’” Ellen James said, puffing out her chest. “And other times, it’s like,” she said, shrinking, “’I’m 80.’”

This is getting so old

James’s Friday soap opera-watching schedule was punctured by the news of the special counsel report, and she grew agitated as she learned about the report’s commentary on Biden’s age. Those portions were abusive, she thought, and she didn’t think Biden should pay any mind to them.

“He was found innocent of any misdoings, and that should be it,” she said.

The weekend after the special counsel report, aging was the topic of discussion among silver-haired, longtime Sunday regulars of the New Beginnings diner. In one booth, two friends who disagreed on much about politics found some alignment on Biden’s age.

“Biden has a lot of experience over the years but he’s too damn old,” said Dave Smoes, an 83-year-old Democrat who said he still intends to vote for Biden because he said Trump is a threat to democracy. “I can’t believe the Democratic Party didn’t come up with somebody different.”

Two seats down, his 92-year-old friend Bill Stroh said he would be voting for Trump but wasn’t any more enthusiastic about it.

“I’m so disappointed,” Stroh said. “I was hoping once before I croak I could vote for someone because I wanted them.”

Emily Guskin contributed to this report.

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