トランプ氏、バイデン氏撤退で高齢批判がブーメランに

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】ドナルド・トランプ前米大統領は、対立候補のジョー・バイデン大統領に対して高齢批判を繰り返し、健康問題をめぐって攻撃し続けてきた。だがバイデン氏が選挙戦からの撤退を表明したことで、ブーメランのように自身も同じ問題を突きつけられる可能性が出てきている。（写真はドナルド・トランプ前米大統領）
　大統領選の民主党候補となる公算が大きいカマラ・ハリス副大統領は５９歳。７８歳のトランプ氏は、はるかに年上の候補ということになり、衰えを示す兆候があれば、より注目を浴びることになる。
　こうした状況について、アメリカン大学の政治学者マシュー・フォスター氏は「力学が一変した」とＡＦＰに指摘した。
　トランプ氏は、バイデン氏が撤退を表明した後も同氏の認知能力を攻撃し続け、「（翌朝）目覚めたら撤退したこと自体を忘れているのではないか」とＳＮＳで嘲笑した。
　だが、トランプ氏が勝利すれば、大統領就任時で米国史上最高齢となる。
　トランプ氏は、言い間違いや失言も多く、支離滅裂な長広舌を振るうことも多々ある。
　このような一面がトランプ氏の認知機能の衰えを示しているのか、一過性のものなのかは分からない。
　トランプ氏は、暗殺未遂維事件からわずか５日後、ウィスコンシン州ミルウォーキーで開催された共和党全国大会で１時間半に及ぶ指名受諾演説を行い、支持者はスタミナの表れだと称賛した。
　一方で、テレビ視聴者の中には、いつもよりかなり疲労した様子で、演説も弱々しいという見方もあった。
　ＡＢＣが７月中旬に実施した世論調査によると、トランプ氏が再選を目指すには年を取り過ぎていると思うと答えた割合は６０％に上った。
　トランプ氏は、そうした懸念をはねつけ続けてきた。今年１月に受けた医師による認知機能テストでは「高得点」だったと主張している。
　しかし、現職だったころとは異なり、ここ数年は実際の健康状態に関する情報はほとんど公表されていない。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/07/23-18:14）

Donald Trump constantly attacked his Democratic opponent Joe Biden over his age and fitness, but the 78-year-old Republican could find those same arguments coming back to haunt him after the president ended his reelection bid.
With Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, on course to become the Democratic nominee, Trump will be a much older candidate and face an even brighter spotlight on any hint of decline.
The dynamics have drastically changed, Matthew Foster, a political scientist at American University, told AFP.
Trump continued to attack Biden's mental acuity even after he dropped out, taunting on social media that he is going to wake up and forget that he dropped out of the race.
The barbs are almost enough to make one forget the real estate mogul is not all that young either.
If Trump wins the November election, he will be the oldest American president to be sworn in.
But the Republican nominee is fallible, with his own repeated gaffes and strings of disjointed tirades.
- When I go bad -
The question of whether they illustrate his own cognitive decline or are simply one-offs is hard to say.
His hour-and-a-half long nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee -- just five days after surviving an assassination attempt -- has been touted by his supporters as an illustration of his endurance.
Some viewers, however, watched the speech and saw a candidate who was much more tired than usual, sweating through a weak speech delivery.
According to an ABC poll conducted in mid-July, 60 percent of Americans said Trump was too old to run for a second term.
As soon as Biden withdrew from the race, Trump's age also came under fire -- but he has consistently dismissed the concerns.
In January, he told supporters that he had completed a cognitive test given by his doctor and he aced the results.
I'll let you know when I go bad; I really think I'll be able to tell you, Trump said at the time.
However, the former president is not subject to the same demands of medical transparency as he was when he was in the White House.
Over the past few years, little information about Trump's health has come out.
Last November, the former reality television host simply published a brief letter from his doctor stating he was in good health and that he had lost weight -- without specifying how much.
- 78-year-old convicted criminal -
Harris's campaign team became fully operational Sunday, and though it is still fine-tuning its strategy, there is little doubt Trump's age will be one of the 59-year-old candidate's lines of attack.
Harris campaign spokesman James Singer said in a statement to AFP the Republican party has nominated Donald Trump, a 78-year-old convicted criminal who has spent decades screwing over working people.
Foster said Harris brings an absolutely different kind of energy to her campaign, describing her style as younger and aggressive.
Harris, a former senator from California whose first presidential campaign in 2020 fizzled out, made her mark by standing out during the televised debates.
At the time, Harris and Biden were up against one another; now she has been called by him to carry the torch.