First lady Jill Biden said it would be “ridiculous” to require mental acuity tests for presidential candidates over 75 years old.
Biden made the remarks, which were part of an interview set to air Monday on CNN, in response to 2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who announced the proposal when she launched her presidential campaign in February.
“We would never even discuss something like that,” Jill Biden said in response to a question about whether Biden would submit to a mental acuity test.
President Joe Biden — the oldest president in U.S. history — would be 82 years old at the beginning of his second term.
The president has refused to take a mental acuity test and publicly release its results despite polls showing that a majority of Americans are “concerned” about his mental fitness. He has argued that the public should “watch him” if they are concerned about his ability to do the job. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Joe Biden Has Signs Of Dementia, Ben Carson Says In Informal Assessment)
“How many 30-year-olds could travel to Poland, get on the train, go nine more hours, go to Ukraine, meet with President [Volodymyr] Zelensky?” Jill Biden told CNN. “So, look at the man. Look what he’s doing. Look what he continues to do each and every day.”
Haley, who is 51, has argued that America needs a “new generation of leaders,” including within the Republican party.
Seventy-six-year-old former President Donald Trump endorsed Haley’s idea and proposed a physical test requirement as well.
“ANYBODY running for the Office of President of the United States should agree to take a full & complete Mental Competency Test simultaneously (or before!) with the announcement that he or she is running, & likewise, but to a somewhat lesser extent, agree to a test which would prove that you are physically capable of doing the job,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.