McMaster, Clyburn say age doesn’t matter when determining whether a politician is competent
Two of South Carolina’s longest-serving elected officials say age should not be a factor when it comes to determining whether someone is a competent politician.
Republican Gov. Henry McMaster and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the state’s lone Democrat in Congress, both on Tuesday dismissed presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s call for politicians older than 75 to have mandatory mental competency tests
Haley made the suggestion last week during her 2024 campaign kickoff as part of her call for a new generation of leaders and to move on from former President Donald Trump, 76, and President Joe Biden, 80.
McMaster, who endorsed Trump’s 2024 presidential bid, is 75. Clyburn is 82.
South Carolina has repeatedly reelected lawmakers who serve late into their senior years. State Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, was in the state Senate for 40 years until his death in 2021 at 90 years old. Strom Thurmond served in the U.S. Senate from 1954 until 2002, choosing not to run as he turned 100 years old.
“I know that every day is a cognitive test here in this office,” said McMaster, who is on track to become the longest-serving governor in state history. “You got to think, you got to work, you got to produce.”
In the 2022 S.C. governor’s race, Democratic nominee Joe Cunningham made generational change a part of his campaign, and called for a 72-year-old age limit on politicians. McMaster beat Cunningham by nearly 18percentage points.
Clyburn never campaigned for Cunningham, at one point saying, “Joe needed to grow up.”
When asked about the value of competency tests, Clyburn also dismissed the idea.
“I think you’ll have some kind of competency test for everybody irrespective of age,” said Clyburn, who joined McMaster Tuesday to highlight efforts to expand broadband internet access in the state. “I have a former student who developed Alzheimer’s at the age of 40. So competency tests, that’s a bunch of crap.”
McMaster says he didn’t ask Trump for job
In 2016, McMaster became the first statewide official in the country to endorse Trump’s presidential campaign.
A year later, McMaster, then the state’s lieutenant governor, was promoted to governor after Trump nominated then-Gov. Haley to be his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations — a promotion for McMaster that was rumored as a possible reward for endorsing the 45th president.
On Feb. 15, shortly after Haley’s presidential campaign launch, Trump posted to his social media platform, Truth Social, that he appointed Haley U.N. ambassador so that then-Lt. Gov. McMaster could ascend to the governor’s office.
“The greatest thing Nikki Haley did for our country, and the great state of South Carolina, was accepting the position of United Nations ambassador so that the incredible then lieutenant governor Henry McMaster, could become governor of South Carolina where he has done an absolutely fantastic job,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “That was a big reason why I appointed Nikki to the position — It was a favor to the people I love in South Carolina.”
McMaster, speaking to The State in his office Tuesday, said he never asked the former president to help him land the job.
McMaster said he had no direct conversations with Trump about a role in the administration after Trump was elected president, and said most of the discussions about possible administration jobs happened among mutual friends.
“There were some mutual friends who were giving him advice about positions and people and they asked me what I wanted in Washington and I said, ‘Nothing.’ That was the end of that,” McMaster said. “I was lieutenant governor. I didn’t want to go to Washington.”
McMaster first ran for governor in a four-way Republican primary in 2010, when he was then the state’s attorney general. The four candidates included Haley, who was then a state lawmaker. After McMaster finished third in the primary, he backed Haley, who went on to win a primary runoff and the general election.
McMaster did say Tuesday that he received a heads-up from Trump before Haley was appointed U.N. ambassador.
“President Trump called and said he’s getting ready to make an announcement and he thought I was going to like it,” McMaster said.
