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Critics Find Awkward Flaw In Nikki Haley's Argument About Cognitive Tests

Older candidates should have to have their mental faculties tested, she argued — “just like you have to show your tax returns.”
Lee Moran
By 

Reporter, HuffPost

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Nikki Haley suggested this week that older candidates for political office should have to undergo cognitive tests, and was mocked for saying it would be very similar to candidates having to release their tax returns.

“If you’re going to 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. Just like you have to show your tax returns, you should have some sort of health screening so that people have faith in what you’re doing,” she said Thursday when asked about President Joe Biden’s mental state on conservative news show “The Water Cooler.”

“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,” added Haley, 49, a potential 2024 presidential candidate. “And when it comes to that, this shouldn’t be partisan. We should be looking at the ages of the people who are running our country.”

Biden, at 78, is the oldest sitting president. Former President Donald Trump is 75. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is 81. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is 79.

Critics on Twitter reminded Haley — who was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump — that the last president refused to release his financial records before and during his presidency, citing an ongoing audit. They also recalled Trump’s bizarre 2020 campaign boasts about taking the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which looks for signs of cognitive impairment.

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