Jill Biden Blasts Haley’s Call for Competency Tests for Older Politicians as ‘Ridiculous,’ Says She and President ‘Would Never Even Discuss’ Taking One
First Lady Jill Biden blasted the call from GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley for politicians over 75 years old to take mental competency tests, dismissing the idea and saying she and President Joe Biden would never even discuss having him take one.
Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and UN ambassador during Donald Trump’s administration, issued the call for competency tests during her campaign announcement speech last month, saying that “America is not past our prime. It’s just that our politicians are past theirs.”
President Biden was the oldest ever U.S. president when he was inaugurated at age 78. He is currently 80 and if he ran for re-election and won, would be 82 when he was sworn in for his second term. Trump is just a few years younger at 76 (and would be 78 at a potential Jan. 20, 2025 inauguration).
Jill Biden sat down for an interview with CNN White House correspondent Arlette Saenz, and anchor Dana Bash played a short clip during State of the Union Sunday morning.
Saenz brought up Haley’s call for mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75 and asked the first lady, “What do you think about that?”
“It’s ridiculous,” she replied, shaking her head.
“Would your husband ever take one of those?” asked Saenz.
“I mean, we haven’t even discussed — we would never even discuss something like that,” said Biden.
The full interview with Jill Biden will air on CNN at 9:00 pm ET Monday.
Watch above via CNN.
