Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis says US ‘probably’ should have cognitive tests for presidential candidates

Patti Davis, daughter of former President Reagan, said the United States should “probably” administer cognitive tests to presidential candidates in an interview that aired Sunday.

“Probably,” Davis said when asked in an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” whether she thought cognitive tests should be given to those running for the nation’s highest office.

“I mean, in just what we know about what age can do. It doesn’t always do that, but it would probably be a good idea,” she continued. “My father was 77 when he left office after two terms. It seems so young now, doesn’t it?”

President Biden, now 81, was 77 when elected to his first term, and he was 78 by the time he was sworn in. Former President Trump, now 77, was sworn in at 70 years old, breaking Reagan’s record for the oldest president to be sworn into office. In 2020, Biden broke Trump’s record.

Now, Biden and Trump are the leading candidates for the Democratic and Republican parties’ presidential nominations, and, if elected, they would both be in their 80s by the end of their second term. With a high likelihood of an octogenarian serving as the country’s next president, Americans have paid more attention to the role that age plays in a candidate’s ability to campaign and to serve as president.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who is the last remaining GOP primary opponent to Trump, has capitalized on her relatively young age, 52, throughout her campaign. She has long called for term limits and mental competency tests.

Davis, in the interview, referred to Reagan’s role in ending the Cold War and said, “So, that was not someone who was, you know, fractured in age.”

“I mean, yes, I probably thought he was old because he was my father, and we think that about our parents. But, you know, not in the way that we’re talking about now,” she said.

Reagan developed Alzheimer’s in 1994, and there was some speculation among staff and reporters that his symptoms began in the years prior — something his doctors and spokespeople have denied.

White House staff, however, raised concerns about his attentiveness and behavior, investigative reporting in recent years has shown, and some aides even raised the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment, a suggestion quickly dismissed by the chief of staff, according to the History Channel.