Musk urges cognitive tests for US officials

The billionaire public figure was reacting to reports of a “missing” 81-year-old congresswoman later found in a dementia facility

The US should consider introducing mandatory mental fitness tests for public officials, entrepreneur and Trump acolyte Elon Musk has suggested. His comments follow reports that an 81-year-old sitting congresswoman who was feared missing had, in fact, been placed in a nursing home for individuals with dementia.

The scandal erupted this week after local media reported that Kay Granger, a Republican lawmaker in Texas who has held a seat in the House of Representatives for nearly 30 years, had been absent from her office for the past six months, with her team being completely unreachable. Employees at a dementia care assisted living facility confirmed that Granger was living there, The Dallas Express reported on Friday.

A further investigation revealed that Granger was in fact a resident of the Fort Worth facility, which specializes in treating people with dementia. The congresswoman announced last October that she would not seek re-election, with her term due to expire in January.

Commenting on the reports on Sunday, Musk suggested on X: “Maybe we should have some basic cognitive test for elected officials? This is getting crazy.”

The tycoon has also previously spoken out in favor of an age limit for persons holding public office, arguing that the lack of change in political leadership “inhibits the new ideas.”

Read more

Parkinson’s disease specialist regularly visited White House

The issue of whether US officials must be compelled to take mandatory cognitive tests emerged on America’s political landscape during the recent election cycle and its stand-off between incumbent Joe Biden, 82, and current President-elect Donald Trump, 78. Biden was forced to drop out of the election after a disastrous and sputtering debate performance demonstrated his declining mental fitness.

As for Musk, he strongly endorsed Trump, who boasted in January about ‘acing’ a cognitive test, describing it as challenging. His critics, however, pointed out that the test was incredibly easy and included tasks such as correctly identifying different types of animals.