About half of Americans think President Joe Biden received preferential treatment from federal prosecutorswho decided last week not to face charges of improperly retaining classified documents from his time as a senator and Barack Obama’s vice president, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Nearly 53 percent of respondents, including 29 percent of Democrats, in the four-day poll that ended Monday agree that “Biden got special treatment because he’s the president of the United States.”

About half — 46%— respondents said they were at least somewhat aware of special counsel Robert Herr’s comments that prosecuting Biden would be difficult because, at 81, the US president could present himself to jurors as “a likable, well-intentioned, old man with weak memory”.

Biden has denounced Herr’s report, which suggests the president has memory problems.

The poll results highlight potentially critical weaknesses facing Biden in his re-election bid.

About 78% of those polled — including 71% of Democrats — believe that Biden, already the oldest person in the White House, is too old to govern.