Trump claims Putin and Kim Jong-un are more fit to lead than Biden as polling finds only half of US trusts mental fitness of either candidate

US president made remarks while speaking at rally in Nevada

Only half of Americans think that presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump have the “mental soundness” for the job, as the president claims that Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are more mentally fit than the Democratic nominee.

A new poll by Fox News that was published on Sunday, showed that 51 per cent of Americans “think Joe Biden has the mental soundness to serve effectively as president”.

The poll found that only 47 per cent felt that Mr Trump had the mental soundness for the job, while two per cent were unsure.

Of those asked by Fox News, 45 per cent said that Mr Biden did not have the mental soundness to be president.

The poll came a few days after a survey by CNBC-Change Research was released, which asked likely voters in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin if they thought the candidates were mentally fit enough for the job.

The survey showed that 51 per cent of voters in the states felt that Mr Trump is unfit for the job, while 52 per cent said the same about Mr Biden.

When it came to physical fitness, 52 per cent of those asked in the Fox News poll responded that they thought Mr Trump was physically fit enough to be president, while 54 per cent said the same about the Democratic nominee.

The mental and physical fitness of both candidates has been a talking point of the 2020 campaign, with the 74-year-old president repeatedly criticising the 77-year-old former vice president’s cognitive ability.

Mr Trump often refers to the Democratic nominee as “sleepy Joe,” and earlier this month claimed that a 97-year-old veteran in a crowd at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, is mentally sharper than Mr Biden.

On Monday, following the release of the Fox News poll, Mr Trump compared Mr Biden’s mental fitness to both North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un and Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to journalist Julia Davis.

After the president made the remarks, Ms Davis tweeted: “Trump claims that Putin and Kim Jong-un are more mentally fit than Biden. Still fanboying for dictators,” and he responded: “I didn’t know there would be even a question about this!”

At the rally in Nevada, Mr Trump added: “I deal with all these people and they don’t have the kind of mental problem that sleepy Joe has. They are very sharp.

“Kim Jong-un doesn’t know about the problems that Joe has — we need very sharp people. I’m sorry, Joe is not qualified for this position.”

The comments came a few days after the president claimed without evidence at a rally in Minnesota last week: “Biden is shot. I'm telling you he's shot,” and added: “There's something going on.”

Mr Trump has also repeatedly boasted about passing a cognitive test, but when asked by CBS News last week if he would do the same, Mr Biden replied: “Why the hell would I take a test?”

The national poll also shows that Mr Biden has a lead of 51 to 46 per cent over Mr Trump going into November’s presidential election, which is an increase of two per cent from Fox News’ previous poll, according to Newsweek.

It also shows that the Democratic nominee has a lead of 15 percentage points with women, while Mr Trump has a six point lead with men.

The Republican nominee also came out on top with white voters, with an 11 point lead, while Mr Biden is ahead of Mr Trump by 54 points with non-white voters.