Former Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley replied to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) after criticizing her proposed mental capacity tests for older politicians.
Driving the news: Sanders, 81, told Stephen Colbert the CBS’s “Late Show” Monday that Haley’s plan for proficiency testing for all federal applicants over the age of 75 is “nothing more than old-fashioned ageism” and is “not acceptable.”
- Haley, 51, defended her proposal by saying at a campaign event on Tuesday that “Bernie Sanders lost his mind because I asked. He’s exactly what we need him for.” The hill.
To note : When Colbert said the Constitution already sets out the qualifications for the presidency, Sanders replied, “Well, some of these guys don’t worry too much about the Constitution.”
Catch up fast: Haley, 51, pitched the idea of mental capacity testing during his 2024 presidential campaign announcement last week.
- “America hasn’t passed its peak. It’s just that our politicians have passed theirs,” the former South Carolina governor said.
- Sanders then called the proposal “absurd” and told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that “we’re fighting racism, we’re fighting sexism, we’re fighting homophobia, I think we should be fighting racism as well. ‘ageism’.
What to watch: Democrats and Republicans are increasingly talking about age in order to avoid a rematch in 2024 between Biden, 80, and former President Trump, 76.