Nikki Haley calls the Senate the ‘most privileged nursing home in the country’ and tells Mitch McConnell, 81, he should ‘know when it’s time to leave’ after second freeze

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Thursday that the Senate was “the most privileged retirement home in the country” after 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze for the second time.

Haley, 51, appeared on Fox News and was asked about McConnell’s health issues on Wednesday.

When she launched her presidential campaign in mid-February, she called for mental competency tests for candidates over the age of 75, which would apply to both President Joe Biden, 80, and the President. former President Donald Trump, 77.

“It’s sad,” Haley said of McConnell. “No one should feel good seeing this, any more than we should feel good seeing Dianne Feinstein, any more than we should feel good seeing a lot of what’s going on or seeing the decline of Joe Biden. .”

“What I will say is that right now the Senate is the most privileged retirement home in the country,” she continued. “I mean, Mitch McConnell has done great things and he deserves credit. But you have to know when to leave.

On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 80, appeared frozen for about 30 seconds during an event in Kentucky. McConnell displayed similar behavior at a press conference on Capitol Hill in late July.

On Wednesday, McConnell was speaking at an event in Kentucky when he appeared frozen for about 30 seconds.

He exhibited similar behavior at a Capitol press conference in late July, ahead of the Congressional summer recess.

McConnell missed work for weeks earlier this year after falling, sustaining a concussion and breaking a rib while walking out of dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC, the former Trump hotel, in March .

He attributed Wednesday’s freeze to feeling “momentarily dizzy”.

The attending physician to the United States Congress, Dr. Brian Monahan, cleared McConnell to take office the following day.

“After assessing yesterday’s incident, I have informed Chief McConnell that he is medically cleared to continue with his schedule as planned,” a statement from Monahan read. “Occasional dizziness is not uncommon during concussion recovery and can also be expected following dehydration.”

Biden, when asked about McConnell’s fitness for office on Thursday, sang a similar tune.

The president called McConnell a “friend” and said “he was on the phone himself” when they spoke earlier in the day.

“And having some understanding of dealing with neurosurgeons and one of the main women on my team, her husband is also a neurosurgeon, it’s not at all unusual to have an answer that sometimes happens to Mitch when you’ve had a severe concussion,” Biden said. “It’s part of the recovery.”

“And so I’m confident he’s going to be himself again,” the president said.

Biden replied that he had no concerns about McConnell’s ability to do his job.

Even though Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, hasn’t completely parted ways politically with her former boss – indicating during last week’s debate that she would still support him as a candidate even if he was found guilty of a crime – she strongly insisted on the idea of ​​a generational change.

In her Charleston announcement speech, she floated the idea of ​​subjecting applicants over the age of 75 to a mental competency test.

She explained how she would see it working in her interview with Fox.

“The way you would do it would be that when someone is running for office, they would get an opinion from their doctor about a mental competency test,” she said.

“It’s different from a health test,” the 2024 hopeful continued. “A mental skill test is, you know, a series of questions like, ‘Name what city you were born in? or, you know, “Say four words that start with the same letter?” or “How many grandchildren do you have?” As if there were several questions, and they would submit these mental competency tests at the same time as they were running for office.

The issue of grandchildren was a sting at Biden, who for years wouldn’t acknowledge his seventh grandchild, Navy Joan.

“It’s not disqualifying,” Haley said of the test results. “But what it’s about is transparency for voters so that when they make their decision, they have it and they know it.” Just as we have to provide financial information when we run for office.

“We should run a mental competency test so people know if this person is fit,” Haley said. “And I think it should be done for incumbents, I think it should be done for all (new) people running for office.”

Haley said it was “worrying” to see McConnell and 90-year-old Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein stay in power while suffering health issues, some related to old age.

“But the people who are hurting are the taxpayers, the people who are getting tough on the American people and we need to make sure those people know when to move on,” Haley concluded.