Nikki Haley and Bernie Sanders clash over age competency test idea

Senator Bernie Sanders and 2024 GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley are already going back and forth about Haley's suggestion that politicians age 75 and older should take mental competency tests.

In an interview with CBS News' "Face the Nation" this weekend, Sanders said the idea is just another way to express hate.

"We are fighting racism, we are fighting sexism, we are fighting homophobia," Sanders said. "I think we should also be fighting ageism."

Sanders said that competency is not linked to an age limit or age range, stating in the same interview, "There are a lot of 40-year olds out there who aren't particularly competent."

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Haley, 51, is exactly 30 years younger than Sanders, 81.

“Exactly what a career politician and socialist would say,” Haley told The Epoch Times on Monday. “This is about transparency. The Washington establishment is afraid of the people finding out some of our leaders aren’t fit to serve.”

Sanders warned about making judgments based on an individual's competency based on their age and that it could lead to other tests to qualify presidential candidates.

"America is not past our prime," Haley said during her announcement to run for the GOP nomination on Feb. 15. "It's just that our politicians are past theirs."

The statement received a loud round of applause from the crowd in Charleston, South Carolina.

Both current President Joe Biden, 80, and former President Donald Trump, 76, are older than Haley's suggested competency test.