Reagan Biographer Disputes Mika’s Age Claim: Left Office ‘Sharp as Day He Went in’

Aspersions cast about the effect of Hillary Clinton’s age on her presumptive presidency have brought plenty of comparisons, pro and con, to former President Ronald Reagan (Clinton would be the same age in 2016 as Reagan was when he took office). On Thursday morning, Mika Brzezinski said that Reagan had shown the effects of age in office, something Reagan biographer Craig Shirley strongly disputed.

“These stories exist because there’s a tinge of something to them, isn’t that fair enough?” Brzezinski said. “Ronald Reagan certainly suffered from the effects of age in office. And you can hear that from insiders who worked with him.”

“No, no, absolutely not,” Shirley said. “No, he did not suffer from the effects of age. If you’re talking about Alzheimer’s or mental deterioration, no.”

“No, I did not say that,” Brzezinski said. “I can tell you exactly, but I don’t think you want me to. I know people that were in the room with him, and he definitely had effects of age in office, especially in his second term.”

“What every staffer will tell you is that when he went back to California in January of ’89 that he was tired,” Shirley said. “But he went to Mayo every year and went through rigorous mental and physical testing, and passed with flying colors all eight years of his testing. Everybody who was up close and personal with him said there was no evidence of any mental deterioration during his presidency. He was as sharp as the day he went in office.”

“Okay, well, we can debate that,” Brzezinski said. “My point is both these stories, in my opinion, have a tinge of truth to them.”

Watch the clip below:

[Image via screengrab]

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