Last week, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said that 80-year-old President Joe Biden is likely to die within the next five years, and that his supporters would have to assume VP Kamala Harris would take his place.
"He
announced that he’s running again in 2024, and I think that we can all
be very clear and say with a matter of fact that if you vote for Joe
Biden you really are counting on a President Harris, because the idea
that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think
is likely," the 51-year-old Haley told Fox News.
GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley predicts Biden would not make it through a second term:
— The Recount (@therecount) April 26, 2023
“If you vote for Joe Biden, you really are counting on a President Harris. Because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely.” pic.twitter.com/4rMNo5O6gp
No so fast, according to the Financial Times, which - citing actuaries, say an 82-year-old Biden wouldn't be too ancient to start a second term, which he would of course finish at the ripe young age of 86.
According to UK actuarial firm Club Vita, Biden has a life expectancy of another 11 years, taking him to 91, while former President Donald Trump has 14 more years to look forward to.
The model’s inputs include affluence, marital status, and employment. These key demographics for both Biden and Trump put them in the same favourable categories for the main factors, including addresses in the top category for life expectancy: the analysts used Trump’s Palm Beach address and Biden’s Delaware home.
Erik Pickett, a New Jersey-based actuary for Club Vita, said a wide range of factors could prove its model wrong, from whether the candidates “are in significantly different health to the average of someone with the same characteristics” to the fact that presidents have “access to higher quality medical treatments” than the typical American. -Financial Times
The average American male born on the same day as Biden can expect to live another 8.5 years, according to the Social Security Administration.
"I would say that both Biden and Trump are likely to have substantially higher life expectancy than the average, for their age, because they have high socio-economic status, access to the best healthcare in the US, and they do not smoke," said Georgetown University senior research investigator, Dana Glei.
"The president will have access to the highest-quality medical care and will remain physically, mentally and socially active whilst in the job — all factors that improve lifespan," said Pickett, adding that this will be "at least partially countered by a high-stress environment and possibly a greater exposure to external risk factors."
And of course, Kamala Harris is ready for whatever might come...
SEN. CHRIS COONS: "The Vice President's ready to run & ready to be President should that ever happen..." pic.twitter.com/NeQBd7RFHQ
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 30, 2023
Comforting, no?
