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US First Lady Jill Biden on Monday (March 6) slammed Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley's proposal for a mandatory “mental competency test” for politicians over 75 years old. Speaking to CNN, Biden said Haley's proposal was "ridiculous." On being asked if her husband Joe Biden, who would turn 82 at his inauguration if he’s reelected, would consider taking such a test, the First Lady said, “We would never even discuss something like that.”

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As Joe Biden prepares for a possible 2024 presidential campaign, Jill Biden cited his recent travel schedule as reflective of his stamina. “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?” she told CNN. 

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On February 16, Nikki Haley, 51, while giving a speech in Charleston, called for a mental health test for future American Presidential candidates. “We’ll have term limits for Congress, and mandatory mental competency test for politicians over 75-year-old,” Haley, the former US Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) and former South Carolina governor said, the news agency Reuters reported. 

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Apart from Jill Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders also slammed Haley's proposal. Speaking to CBS News on February 19, Sanders, 81, called the proposal “absurd” and ageist. 

"We are fighting racism, we're fighting sexism, we're fighting homophobia, I think we should also be fighting ageism. Trust people, look at people and say, you know, this person is competent, this person is not competent. There are a lot of 40-year-olds out there who ain't particularly competent," Sanders added. 

Nikki Haley defended her proposal for mental health tests and said Sanders is “exactly the reason we need it.”

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And on March 3, she stepped up attacks on Donald Trump over his age. Without naming the former president directly, Haley called on conservatives at a national forum to trust a "new generation" of leaders, the news agency AFP reported. 

"If you're tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation," Haley urged attendees at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held just outside Washington. 

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