Some of my favourite leaders are elders: Queen Elizabeth II, Iris Apfel, Colonel Sanders. ‘Granfluencers’ are all over the socials, from TikTok’s 93-year-old Grandma Droniak to Insta’s Baddie Winkle. And when it comes to cutting a dash, it’s senior citizen chic that put the ‘old’ into old skool. Classic hip hop style — track suits, chunky kicks and visor sunglasses — is straight outta bingo.
Codgers are cool, but try telling Americans surveying their options for the 2024 presidential race. Polls show concern about the putative nominees’ advanced ages: 80 for Democrat Joe Biden, 77 for Republican Donald Trump. The idea that the next leader of the free world would be settling into his Oval Office recliner at the same point other oldsters are being duped by phone scammers is enough to make voters neck a laxative.
