Questions of mental fitness: Fair game or dirty politics?

 Joe Biden on Tuesday bristled when asked by a reporter whether he would take a cognitive assessment test similar to the one President Trump has occasionally boasted about passing. “Why the hell would I take a test?” the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said.

The question about a cognitive test, which is designed to identify conditions like dementia, is the latest instance of the concerns of mental fitness being pushed to the center of the presidential race. Trump, 74, has repeatedly claimed that Biden, 77, is experiencing intellectual decline. His campaign has also run ads suggesting that the former vice president is “slipping.”

Biden, for his part, has occasionally turned the accusations around by raising questions about Trump’s own mental faculties. “This president talks about cognitive capability,” he said during a June news conference. “He doesn’t appear to be cognitively aware of what’s going on.” Anti-Trump groups not affiliated with Biden’s campaign have lobbed more overt attacks on the president’s mental state.

Why there’s debate

Discussions of age and cognitive ability have been part of previous presidential races, most notably Ronald Reagan’s successful reelection bid in 1984. But the bluntness of the attacks in the current campaign raises complex questions about both the ethical implications and political wisdom of questioning an opponent’s mental fitness. 

On one hand, voters have the right to know whether the nation’s most powerful leader has the ability to carry out the rigors of the job. Either Biden or Trump would be the oldest person to hold the office by the end of the next presidential term. A compromised commander in chief could present a substantial risk to the country, some argue.

At the same time, a valid discussion of a candidate’s fitness can easily drift into ageism, elder rights advocates say. Suggesting that someone of advanced age will inevitably develop dementia or pointing to occasional flubs as signs of cognitive decline reinforces stereotypes that harm senior citizens, they argue.