‘There's a Concern’ Over Biden, Nikki Haley Says as She Wants ‘Cognitive Test' for Older Politicians
14:36 GMT 05.11.2021 (Updated: 13:25 GMT 06.08.2022)
© AP Photo / Carolyn Kaster
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The past few months have seen an array of embarrassing gaffes related to President Joe Biden’s physical and mental condition, which has ramped up speculation about his ability to be at the helm of the US.
Former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has said that older American politicians should go through a special test to assess their mental performance in order to stay in public office.
In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) on Wednesday, Haley underscored the importance of having “a conversation that if you're gonna 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”.
She added that right now, “we've got a lot of people in leadership positions that are old”, which Haley said is “not being disrespectful” but is “a fact”.
The ex-US ambassador to the UK underscored that “there's a concern” when it comes to President Joe Biden, arguing that POTUS’ behaviour sometimes indicates his failure to fully call the shots.
She recalled an episode last month, when US climate envoy John Kerry claimed that POTUS “literally had not been aware of what had transpired” in terms of the fallout with France as a result of Washington’s trilateral nuclear submarine agreement with the UK and Australia.
“He [Biden] can't act like he doesn't know something. 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 us. 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”, Haley asserted.
The former envoy spoke in light of a raft of gaffes made by 78-year-old Biden earlier this year, in what further ramped up concerns about the mental and physical condition of the oldest person to assume the US presidency.
Earlier this month, Biden was under fire after a clip showed him apparently fighting sleep during the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.
#EXCLUSIVE : #US President Joe Biden battled sleep at the climate summit.#COP26 #COP26Glasgow pic.twitter.com/nbkSS0R1f7
— Sushmit Patil Сушмит Патил सुश्मित पाटिल 🇮🇳 (@PatilSushmit) November 1, 2021
The 46th president was recorded with his eyes closed for more than 15 seconds before an aide approached him and whispered something into his ear. Biden was then seen sitting forward and rubbing his eyes as the Italian prime minister took the stage.
In a March fiasco, POTUS was due to set off to Atlanta, but when walking up the stairs of Air Force One, he stumbled three times and at one point fell to his knees.
Biden stumbles then he salutes. President Trump waved when he got to the top of the stairs of AirForce One. Also shouldn't Biden salute the soldiers before he goes up the stairs? Everything Biden does and is doing is wrong. https://t.co/uEXVTMAz3W
— Mary Kelly (@CaseyCodey) March 19, 2021
Shortly after, White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield stated that the president was “just fine and did not even require any attention from the medical team who travels with him”.
Biden has been drawing Internet attention with his gaffes and hiccups for quite some time, mixing up Iraq with Iran, promising to put 720 million American women back into the workforce (the entire US population is just 321 million), and – as a Democratic presidential candidate - telling black potential voters they are not black if they could not figure out whether to vote for him or Donald Trump.
