(Headline USA) A Washington Post columnist argued this week that Congress should pass a constitutional amendment putting an age cap on anyone seeking presidential office to prevent former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden from running for office again.
Charles Lane admitted what several other Democrats have begun to say out loud recently: that Biden’s mental fitness is being affected by his age. Trump, too, would be in his 80s if he ran for a second term, Lane pointed out.
“If only the Constitution had the following proviso: ‘No person who has attained the age of 75 years shall be eligible for election to the Office of President,’” he wrote. “That would bar second-term bids by both Biden, 79, and Trump, 76, forcing the country to pass the torch to a new generation, or at least someone born after the 1940s.”
Lane argued the age limit would also be a more “direct” tactic to keep Trump from entering office again.
“Certainly such an amendment would be the most direct route to eliminating the danger of another Trump presidency, far simpler and more certain than trying to disqualify him via the House Jan. 6 committee’s revelations or an indictment,” he said.
Lane noted that he’s more worried about keeping Trump out of office than he is Biden.
“Precluding another four years of Biden would be a small price to pay for a never-Trump guarantee. Who knows? For that worthy objective, Biden himself might agree to sacrifice a shot at reelection,” he added.
However, he noted that the “simple scientific fact is that, on average, human physical mental capabilities diminish as we age.”
“Given that risks — illness, injury, cognitive decline — grow with age, and that the presidency requires a full-time, fully capable occupant, the 75-year rule would ‘de-risk’ the office and, by extension, the political system as a whole,” he wrote.
