Americans would prefer a gay candidate to one over 70, poll suggests

2020 candidates, take note.

A far bigger portion of Americans say they'd reject a presidential candidate who is older than 70 than would reject one who is gay, a Reuters/Ipsos poll published Monday shows. That's a big change from what public opinion polls showed about a decade ago, and is especially relevant given 2020's crop of Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Overall, 48 percent of U.S. adults said they would be "much" or "somewhat" less likely to support a presidential candidate who is over 70 years old. Just 34 percent said the same about a gay candidate. And on the flip side, 12 percent of respondents said they were more likely to vote for a candidate because they are gay, while 11 percent they'd be more likely to back one over 70.

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The poll directly applies to three frontrunners in the 2020 race: President Trump, who is 73, former Vice President Joe Biden, who is 76, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is 77. South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, meanwhile, is only 37, and is openly gay. Contrary to this surveys's findings, Biden and Sanders have risen to the largely unvarying top spots in 2020 Democratic primary polls and have proven the most likely to beat Trump in head-to-head polls. Still, Buttigieg has spent time in the spotlight, even pulling up to nearly match Biden in a New Hampshire primary poll conducted in April.

Reuters/Ipsos surveyed 2,27 American adults online between May 29 and June 5, with a credibility interval of two percentage points.