It appears that President Joe Biden’s age has taken a toll on his ability to publicly speak, walk and even locate the direction of his next steps.
While much of the public has taken this quite seriously, many others have made countless online jokes and memes following the numerous incidents of stutters, missteps and other mistakes Biden has made on television while addressing the nation.
“I honestly think he’s not fit to run the country,” 23-year-old business administration major, David Li said while walking towards his next class at De Anza. “He just seems out of it.”
Chester Profeta, 36-year-old nursing professor and faculty member, is among many who have not heard of this report.
“Being president he should be held accountable for what he says or does,” Profeta said. “I don’t think his mental health should be an excuse.”
President Biden is 81 years old. It is not atypical that one’s mental capacity will deteriorate by that age, especially when working such a demanding role.
Donald Trump is 77 years old and currently facing criminal charges himself, though there are still some charges pending resolve. But the age gap between the two presidents is a mere four years, just one term of a U.S. president.
Should age, mental health and competency be taken into consideration when nominating candidates for presidency or other legislative roles?
“Yes, it should be,” 22-year-old nursing major, Kris Tang said.“If they pass (a certain) age limit, they should do some sort of test such as the St. Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) exam.”
Tang explains the SLUMS test as a 20-question test of mental, cognitive and behavioral capacity. He suggests that this test should be given mandatorily in order to determine whether or not one is capable of displaying the mental strain required to hold positions of power in legislation.
If old age does in fact correlate with mental capacity, a majority of U.S. legislative leaders and officials could possibly be evaluated for mental fitness. This could establish a maximum age that individuals cannot surpass in order to be eligible to run for political office.
Some form of standardized testing of cognitive ability and mental capacity could be implemented as a mandatory prerequisite to run for public office. A similar form of testing could also be given periodically to any public official that surpasses retirement age in order to ensure they are mentally fit to maintain their role.
