Politician Nikki Haley has said elected government officials who are beyond a certain age should undergo a 'cognitive test' in ord...
Politician Nikki Haley has said elected government officials who are beyond a certain age should undergo a 'cognitive test' in order to hold public office.
Haley, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations who also served as the 116th - and first female - governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, made the comment in light of a series of gaffes made by 78-year-old President Joe Biden.
During an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) on Wednesday, Haley was asked specifically if she had any concerns about Biden, the oldest person to ever hold the presidency.
'Well what I'll tell you is, rather than making this about a person, we seriously need to have a conversation that if you're gonna have anyone above a certain age in a position of power — whether it's the House, whether it's the Senate, whether it's vice president, whether it's president — you should have some sort of cognitive test,' Haley said, comparing it to how lawmakers disclose their tax returns.
'And right now, let's face it, we've got a lot of people in leadership positions that are old. And that's not being disrespectful. That's a fact,' Haley, 49, said in a video that was posted to Twitter.
'And when it comes to that, this shouldn't be partisan. We should seriously be looking at the ages of the people that are running our country and understand if that's what we want.'
'There's a concern' when it comes to Biden, she added, claiming that he's showing 'he's not totally in charge.'
President Biden has had several embarrassing gaffes in recent weeks and months. Likewise, Trump, now 75, had also exhibited similarly concerning behavior that appears to stem from his age, as well.
When questioned about her thoughts on Biden by The Christian Broadcasting Network, Haley was asked if she had any concerns over the oldest person to ever hold the presidency
American diplomat and politician Nikki Haley called for government officials of advanced age to be forced to undergo 'cognitive test' in order to continue practicing politics
Biden, pictured, is the oldest president ever at 78-years-old
During the interview, Haley also mentioned how Biden essentially forgot about the fallout with France as a result of the United States' trilateral nuclear submarine agreement with the U.K. and Australia.
When climate envoy John Kerry was asked about Biden's approach on the matter in an interview in France last month, Kerry responded the president 'literally had not been aware of what had transpired.'
'He can't act like he doesn't know something,' Haley said of Biden.
'Because every time he acts like he doesn't know something from "OK, they tell me to call on these reporters," you know, he keeps giving signals that he's not with us. So it's not people hating on Biden, it's Biden really showing the country that he's not totally in charge, and that makes everyone nervous,' she told CBN.
As with advanced age, concerns regarding Biden's physical health continue to follow him as critics like Haley call his mental competency into question.
In March of this year, Biden was boarding the aircraft at Joint Base Andrews just before noon for a flight to Atlanta when he stumbled. He gripped on to the railing, steadied himself and kept going but lost his footing a second time and then a third.
The President recovered and kept going but quickly lost his footing again
The President then lost his balance again and fell to his knees on the carpeted stairs
On the third trip, he fell to his knees. He got back up then carried on up the stairs before giving a salute at the top then disappearing into the aircraft. Once on the plane, White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that he was '100 percent fine' and was preparing for his trip in Atlanta.
Wind gusts were 19 mph at Joint Base Andrews when the President was boarding the plane which is officially categorized as a 'fresh breeze' by the internationally recognized Beaufort Scale.
More recently, during the opening remarks of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow on Monday, Biden looked to be dozing off as one speaker underscored the importance of taking action to save the climate. He opened his eyes and appeared to liven up when an aide walked up to him to chat.
Biden then sat forward and rubbed his eyes as Italy's prime minister took the stage.
The latest slip from the president came just hours after he reverted to preapproved list of reporters when asking questions at the end of the G-20 summit in Rome.
The president looked to be dozing off as one speaker underscored the importance of taking action to save the climate
President Biden's whirlwind European tour appears to be catching up with him, as the 78-year-old was caught resting his eyes during the opening remarks of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow
Biden's age and his fitness for the job have long been scrutinized by critics like Haley, while his dropping poll numbers have put pressure on his administration and mounting crises he faces.
He hasn't released a medical report since 2019, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki has deflected questions about his health and coughing during speeches.
In May, Biden was slammed for singling out an 'elementary school-aged' girl during speech and saying 'she looks like she's 19 years old.'
Biden made the bizarre remarks during an address at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia.
Hundreds of Twitter users accused the president of being 'creepy'; others came to his defense saying he just appeared 'socially awkward.'
Biden has had a history of making eyebrow-raising remarks about girls and women.
He has also been photographed kissing girls on the head and seemingly sniffing women's hair.
In 2019, Biden released a statement saying he 'does not believe' he has ever acted inappropriately. He said at the time that it has never been his intention to make anyone uncomfortable.
While former President Trump has been one of the most vocal critics of Biden's age - despite being only three years younger - Trump, too, has had his mental faculties called into question.
Pictured: Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks during the Iowa Republican Party's Lincoln Dinner, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in West Des Moines, Iowa
Just last year, Trump, pictured, could be heard off-camera bizarrely saying 'Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV' while bragging about his results on a cognitive examination
Just last year, Trump could be heard off-camera bizarrely saying 'Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV' while bragging about his results on a cognitive examination.
'To demonstrate just how hard he said the test really was, he went on television to recite, over and over, the words that he had been asked to remember in the right order: “Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV,”' Peter Baker wrote in an April 25 New York Times report.
'I took it at Walter Reed Medical Center in front of doctors and they were very surprised. They said, "That’s an unbelievable thing, rarely does anybody do what you just did,"' Trump said at the time.
In June, Trump's former White House physician, Rep. Ronny Jackson, a Republican from Texas, demanded that Biden undergo a similar cognitive test, going so far as to write a letter Biden, chief White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci and Biden's physician.
'When I was Physician to President Trump, the media relentlessly pushed a narrative that he needed a cognitive test. I administered the test and he excelled!' Jackson said at the time, according to The Hill.
'Given the precedent set and President Biden's clear mental struggles, I believe it’s past time he take a cognitive test.'
Perhaps most the notable case of advanced age in politics, former President Ronald Reagan notoriously battled with Alzheimer's, a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions.
Although he had planned an active post-presidency, after leaving office in 1989, Reagan disclosed in November 1994 that he had been diagnosed with the illness earlier that year.
Reagan's public appearances became less and less frequent as the disease progressed, before he ultimately died at his Los Angeles home on June 5, 2004.
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