Nikki Haley, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in an interview Thursday that older politicians should take a cognitive just as politicians release their tax returns.
Haley was interviewed by David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, who asked her specifically about President Joe Biden's mental acuity.
''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 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,'' Haley told Brody.
She noted that politicians release their tax returns for public inspection, and should undergo similar scrutiny of their mental state.
''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 said to CBN. ''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.''
Biden is 78, currently the oldest person to serve as president. Trump, her previous boss, is 75, and may be eyeing another term in 2024.
Trump notably took a cognitive exam while in office after critics accused him of mental decline.
Biden has had multiple mental stumbles, and his climate envoy, John Kerry, said in an interview last month in France that the president ''literally had not been aware of what had transpired'' during the dust-up between the U.S. and France over a nuclear submarine deal between Australia and the United Kingdom.
''He can't act like he doesn't know something,'' Haley told CBN. ''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 it. 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.''
Former White House physician Ronny Jackson, who currently serves as a freshman Republican member of Congress from Texas, was even more specific when he circulated a petition last summer calling for a cognitive test for Biden.
A recent I&I/TIPP survey found that more than half of Americans don't think Biden is ''mentally sharp.'' While two-thirds of Democrats said they believe Biden is mentally sharp, 58% of independents said they do not believe he is.
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