U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders Says U.S. Should Be Fighting Ageism
Sanders calls GOP Pres. candidate Nikki Haley's demand for "mandatory mental competency tests" for politicians older than age 75 "absurd."
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, says progressives are fighting racism, sexism and homophobia.
“I think we should also be fighting ageism,” said Sanders, 81, on the Sunday morning CBS Hltelevision news show, Face the Nation.
“Trust people, look at people and say, you know, this person is competent, this person is not competent… Older people, you know, you look at the individual, I don’t think you make a blanket statement,” he said.
Sander’s comments align with overwhelming medical research showing that ageing is not strictly a function of chronological years but is highly variable according to the individual. As Sanders said, “There are a lot of 40-year-olds out there who ain’t particularly competent.”
Haley, 51, speaking at a Charleston, S.C. rally last week, openly questioned the suitability of all politicians age 75 and older, stating they should be subjected to mandatory “mental competnency tests.”
Haley’s comment was an apparent dig at Democratic Pres. Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 80, who is preparing to run for another term, and former Republican Pres. Donald J. Trump, 76, who declared in 2022 tht he would run for reelection in 2024.
The former South Carolina governor said “America is not past our prime. It’s just that our politicians are past theirs.” To Republicans, she said, “If you’re tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation.”
Biden’s Clean Bill
Haley’s comments stand in sharp contrast to White House physician Col. Kevin O'Connor report last week that Biden’s annual exam showed Biden is a “healthy” and “vigorous” 80-year-old who can “successfully execute” his duties as president. O’Connor said a detailed “neurologic exam” found nothing “consistent with any cerebellar or central neurological disorder.”
Sadly, age discrimination is non-partisan in the U.S.
Neither Republicans nor Democrats have been shy with respect to ageism in recent years.
So-called Democratic “progressives” conducted a whispering campaign that contributed (if not forced) U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, 89, the oldest member of Congress, to announce recently that she will not seek relection. This after a behind-the-scenes pressure campaign in 2021 conducted by so-called progressives to unseat Feinstein as the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
GOP leadership is careful but Fox news hosts routinely deride Biden as mentally incompetent. Tucker Carlson claimed in 2022 that Biden has dementia and is “his full-blown senility has been obvious for three years.”
Meanwhile, Trump and Biden have each called the other “incompetent” to lead the United States.
But Isn’t Age Discrimination Illegal?
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