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
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday said anyone running for the White House should submit to mental competency and physical tests to show they are up for the job.
Mr. Trump did not mention former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley by name. But Mrs. Haley, his rival for the GOP nomination, injected the idea into the news cycle last week by calling for mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.
“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,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.
Mrs. Haley, 51, is calling for a younger generation of leaders than Mr. Trump, who is 76, and President Biden, who is 80 and leaning toward another run.
Mr. Trump seemed to lump himself in with the younger, sharper crowd. The ex-president frequently railed against Mr. Biden as being over the hill and too low-energy for the White House during the 2020 campaign, only to lose.
Mr. Trump also frequently boasted about a cognitive test in which he had to repeat the words “person, woman, man, camera, TV.”
“Being an outstanding President requires great mental acuity & physical stamina. If you don’t have these qualities or traits, it is likely you won’t succeed. MAGA!” he wrote.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.