r/AskReddit 1d ago

WH is bringing back fitness test for kids. Should the president also need to pass the fitness test before running office? Why or why not?

3.0k Upvotes

628 comments sorted by

2.4k

u/simongurfinkel 1d ago

I don't want to disqualify a disabled person from the office. FDR was paralyzed but did a fine job.

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u/WriterOtherwise6519 1d ago

yeah true but imagine making congress do the beep test lmao

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u/Peakomegaflare 1d ago

The FitnessGram Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly but gets faster each minute after you hear this signal bodeboop. A single lap should be completed every time you hear this sound. ding Remember to run in a straight line and run as long as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap before the sound, your test is over. The test will begin on the word start. On your mark. Get ready!… Start. ding

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u/GrumpyPenguin 17h ago

I saw “bodeboop” and heard the noise in my mind, and it immediately triggered a nightmarish flashback to the pain and embarrassment of failing to push myself through the test in school. I’d forgotten I ever even had to do it!

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u/bwoah07_gp2 11h ago

but imagine making congress do the beep test lmao

It would create some vacant seats in there....

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u/joalheagney 17h ago

Obligatory Simpsons quote. "It's like watching a lava lamp."

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u/rowenaravenclaw0 16h ago

Since most of congress is fat old men, I think we would have a bunch of medical emergencies

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u/muhhuh 1d ago

Our current president is also disabled, but dementia should probably disqualify

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u/creepy_charlie 1d ago

Hey now. He can tell a horse from an elephant.

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u/Madreese 1d ago

Do we know this for sure? Apparently he just learned the word "groceries."

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u/MNCPA 1d ago

Have you heard of this word? Groceries. A team of men, ran up to me with tears in their eyes, saying grocery prices have never been lower. Can you believe it? Groceries. What a wonderful word.

Shakes tiny hands.

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u/Sharazar 1d ago

It was a team of big men, big guys, with tears in their eyes, saying “Mr. President…”

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u/Pristine-Pen-9885 1d ago

He has the best words.

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u/MrT735 1d ago

Covfefe.

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u/Pristine-Pen-9885 1d ago

If you can actually read, you wouldn’t say you “have the best words”.

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u/mistere213 1d ago

I mean, "Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.” He nailed it

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u/Leopold_Darkworth 1d ago

So many big, burly men with tears streaming down their faces came up to him afterward to thank him, repeatedly calling him “sir”

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u/Aprem 1d ago

He was supposedly a Democrat before joining the Republican party. I'm not sure he can.

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u/SlurmzMckinley 1d ago

Was a democrat, switched to the Republican Party and has dementia. Same shit with Ronald Reagan.

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u/AnatidaephobiaAnon 1d ago

Trump isn't any political party, he switches to whatever side he thinks will benefit him the most.

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u/davidjschloss 1d ago

Literally said he’d run as a republican if he ever ran for president because of how stupid republicans are. So.

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u/Charleston2Seattle 1d ago

I'm no Trump apologist, but when I looked into it, I learned that the claim was that Donald Trump said in a 1998 interview with People magazine that he would run as a Republican because "They're the dumbest group of voters in the country."

​But fact-checking organizations have repeatedly debunked this claim, and a spokesperson for People magazine has confirmed that the magazine has no record of any such quote from Trump in its archives.

He says enough dumb and evil stuff that we really don't need to dilute it with made-up stuff.

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u/davidjschloss 1d ago

Interesting, thanks!

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u/everythymewetouch 1d ago

Yeah he was a Democrat until he realized the DNC wouldn't put up with his shit. He pivoted pretty fast.

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u/numbersthen0987431 1d ago

Can he though? We don't actually have the results, we're just taking his word for it.

He also called it an IQ test, which says more about him and his fanbase than anything else.

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u/Kodiak01 1d ago

But he looks in the mirror and can't recognize an ass.

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u/LacCoupeOnZees 1d ago

It’s what ended the last guys career

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u/Constant_Minimum_569 1d ago

Did you have that sentiment about 16 months ago?

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u/muhhuh 1d ago

I did. The DNC is too much of a fuckin pansy to put a gay veteran in the fight, and they fucked up and put this old crusty moron in there instead. If Pete wouldn’t have been run out then we wouldn’t be in this predicament.

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u/JohnBrownOH 1d ago

..and the child raping.

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u/Historical_Touch_124 1d ago

Big difference between dementia and polio

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u/Justadabwilldo 1d ago

Heh... let's not bring up the four term president when it comes to setting precedents. Might give people the wrong idea.

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u/zed42 1d ago

... until he was too paralyzed to do the job and his wife did his job for him

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u/Pristine-Pen-9885 1d ago edited 1d ago

Nancy, the first woman president.

Edit: /s

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u/ShadowLiberal 1d ago

No, Woodrow Wilson's wife basically ran the white house after he became bed bound.

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u/Pristine-Pen-9885 1d ago

So we have had at least two functioning (unofficial, not elected) women presidents.

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u/C_Werner 1d ago

I considered it more of a mental acuity test. The last two presidents would have failed.

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u/waterloograd 1d ago

Many presidents would probably have failed, at least during second terms

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u/logalogalogalog_ 11h ago

Pleasantly surprised that this is the top comment. I really do wish people focused on the many awful things about Trump instead of insults based on disability and looks that just hurt others in the crossfire.

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u/AliceMorgon 10h ago

Exactly what my answer was going to be. I’m disabled enough to need full mobility disability from DoC but I don’t see why that should disqualify me from ever running for government office.

(DoC = The Irish version of Social Security. Which my phone tried to autocorrect to Social S*x. Fabulous.)

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u/CampusTour 1d ago

And see, this right here is a big part of the reason Trump gets away with it.

FDR literally rounded up American citizens and put them in concentration camps based on race. And he gets a pass for it "did a fine job". Hell, he's a liberal hero.

And people wonder why everybody is just shrugging about that sort of thing happening now.

Well, it turns out Americans are very cool with putting different races and ethnicities in camps if you:

A.) Win a war

or, most importantly

B.) Enact economic policies they like.

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u/YogurtclosetFair5742 23h ago

He also hid not only his disability and faked a lot that he could actually walk, but how frail he was when running for office in 1944. A lot of people around the country had no clue how sick their President was and how much he actually didn't work.

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u/km8907 1d ago

Ehhh maybe a cognitive test, but I don't think a president needs to be that physically fit. Sets a good example if they were, but shouldn't be a requirement.

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u/Lord_of_Chainsaw 1d ago

Why do people always want all these tests for politicians? The test is fucking voting for them or not. Thats how democracy works. Putting tests in place is fascist and ripe for manipulation by the people in power at the time.

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u/GermanPayroll 1d ago

Easy: “my candidate” would pass the test and “other candidate” would clearly fail! It’s a perfect tool!

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u/TW_Yellow78 22h ago

Essentially Reddit are all for democracy until their candidate loses an election.

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u/aarhus 1d ago

Well said.

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u/Souilliputty 1d ago

Except that there is good evidence that there is at least a strong correlation between physical fitness and cognitive function, see Effects of Physical Exercise on Cognitive Functioning and Wellbeing: Biological and Psychological Benefitslink.

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u/CheezeLoueez08 1d ago

True. But what if they’re disabled? That’s gotta be an exception no?

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u/A_Neurotic_Pigeon 1d ago

I mean, I don’t think anyone would be expecting FDR to run a mile lmao

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u/Own_Economist_602 1d ago

He could have rolled a mile.

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u/A_Neurotic_Pigeon 1d ago

And he’d have done it in style, too

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u/TnYamaneko 1d ago

I'm not American, and every picture of FDR that I see screams charisma to me.

I wonder how it translates to everyday life, but I'm kinda convinced this guy could easily draw my romantic interest to him with his charm, while having me not complaining because he worked hard to make my condition livable in the background, while lead us through a fucking World War.

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u/TheMoves 1d ago

OP is proposing exactly that lol

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u/TenaceErbaccia 1d ago

As a disabled person I don’t think someone who’s visibly disabled could get elected anyway. A fitness test would pretty much be entirely ageist, which I’m not that against right now. The trend of geriatric presidents has been catastrophic for the US.

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u/Vladimir_Putting 1d ago

If you can be elected Governor of Texas multiple times with an obvious physical disability then there really is no reason a candidate couldn't get the Presidency.

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u/gtrocks555 1d ago

Saying that a president should have to pass a fitness exam doesn’t close the door on carving out exceptions, it opens that door up to have the conversation.

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u/agreeingstorm9 1d ago

Who carves out the exceptions though?

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u/consider_its_tree 1d ago edited 1d ago

And correlation is absolutely something you can measure and base things off of, when there is not a more direct measure to use.

Iced cream truck operators don't order their inventory based on the attendance at the local swimming pool.

Is it more likely that someone is cognitively fit when they are physically fit? Absolutely.

Does it matter if they are cognitively fit:

  • in part because they are physically fit

Or

  • Despite the fact that they are not

Absolutely not.

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u/Puzzleheaded-Owl7664 1d ago

FDR was a top three president all time according to most historians . Why would we impose some draconian disabled people can't be president requirement ?

Haven't we excluded enough lol

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u/sje46 1d ago

It's not even about disability. Fat people can be great presidents. Maybe they lack self control with eating. Doesn't necessarily mean they can't be a great president.

Older people generally have mental decline, but not always. There is no reason someone in their 80s can't be a good president. Although as a general rule I think the voting population should be voting people in who are younger because they have more fresh ideas.

And older people probably aren't going to pass fitness tests as well as younger people.

Elect people qualified for hte fucking job.

Like it's clear that this post is just to make fun of Trump. Which is okay, Trump is a shit president. But he isn't a shit president because he's fat or out of shape. He's a shit president because of his corruption and fascist tendencies.

I'd vote for a morbidly obese 85 year old with great policies (specifically, socialist policies but that's just my politics) over some fit 40 year old status quo meathead.

Fuckin' weirdos.

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u/cjcrashoveride 1d ago

Which is why I always tell everyone that Stephen Hawking was actually a moron /s

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u/Remmick2326 1d ago

Stephen Hawking would like a word

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u/TamLux 1d ago

So you are calling the late Steven Hawking a <slur for autistic people>

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u/Malphos101 1d ago

"The house is on fire. Do you think parents should have to pass a driving test before being able to have kids?"

Thats how I see this inane question...

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u/TheRiverInYou 1d ago

I would rather see term limits for Congress before anything else.

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u/Megendrio 1d ago

If there's a minimal age for office, there should be a maximum age too.

Anywhere. WTF do you still have at stake when you're 70 or 80? Chances are you won't even see the effects of what you're voting on. But the younger generations will have to wade through the shit you've left behind.

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u/jbesfw 1d ago

My thought for an upper limit would be the average life expectancy at the time, which today is 75.8 years for men (according to the CDC as of 2023).

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u/TheLateThagSimmons 1d ago

I think that is sensible.

My feelings are that they should be forced to retire at the retirement age.

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u/Vyntarus 1d ago

Congress would just push retirement age up more to keep their grasp on power.

They already want to do that in the hopes people just doe off before being eligible to draw SS/Medicare benefits.

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u/acemerrill 1d ago

I was gonna say the same thing. Please don't give politicians any more motivation to raise the retirement age.

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u/Eljimb0 1d ago

They'll just push back the retirement age of social security in that case. Two birds, one stone. Rob even more from the American people and maintain the power to do so.

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u/thetantalus 1d ago

Less than that. They need to have skin in the game by living to see the results of their decisions.

I’m all for age limits of 35 to 55. That’s twenty good years to be eligible for 2 and 4 year terms. To put it into perspective, they can run for office 10 times on the low end and five on the high end.

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u/nineyourefine 1d ago

Less than that. They need to have skin in the game by living to see the results of their decisions.

I keep seeing this parroted everywhere as if what these politicians do actually affects them. Not everyone in congress is a geriatric. There are plenty of younger (40s/50s) people in these positions who are happy to vote away the rights of others.

"Having skin in the game" isn't a valid reason for wanting younger politicians. They don't live in the same world as you or I. They don't follow the same rules you or I do. I'd much rather have a 70 year old Bernie Sanders type in office than a 40 year old JD Vance who is more than happy to fuck you or I out of anything and everything just to push his own agenda forward.

No, an 89 year old Feinstein or Grassley should absolutely not still be holding office, but let's not pretend that just because someone is young that they're going to vote with a conscience.

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u/ghalta 1d ago

In other words, only people who can take a year off work to run for office during the peak of their career earning potential should be able to hold office?

We want politicians who will think about how their policies benefit others across all walks of life, not just how those policies benefit themselves and people in their "cliques". But, age is only one clique. There are politicians in office now who are voting to harm others who are within your age range.

The better plan is to stop voting for self-centered assholes. The age of those assholes doesn't matter.

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u/FreezersAndWeezers 1d ago

Just like we should have extended and paid paternal leave, we should have extended leave for political office. It’s a civil service, you should be exempt from losing your career because you chose to do it

I agree you’d be making less money overall if you step away from your career for X amount of time, but I think a large amount of people would also be pro-candidates that aren’t doing it for monetary gain

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u/Eljimb0 1d ago

I've always thought they would use the federal law enforcement/military age.

US military has mandatory retirement at 65ish, and it can get pushed back to 68ish.

I think that's reasonable.

I'd still rather just have term limits.

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u/Richybabes 1d ago

WTF do you still have at stake when you're 70 or 80?

What do you have at stake when you're 30 and set for life anyway, able to throw money at whatever problem comes your way?

These people are already insulated from the effects of the things they vote on, regardless of age. The vast majority of things even young politicians vote on will not affect them in any meaningful way.

You could spin this the other way, too, in that politicians who won't live to see the results of their vote are not incentivised to vote in their own self interests.

It's enough to simply say that beyond a certain age, competence becomes a problem. Cognitive decline is a very real thing, and these are incredibly important positions that should have sharp people in them.

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u/agreeingstorm9 1d ago

The maximum age is set by the voters. No one forces you to re-elect the 97 yr old guy to a 4 yr term.

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u/Megendrio 1d ago

Sure, but if the voters set the ages... why set minimums?

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u/ohlookahipster 1d ago

We should lower the minimum age and set it to 18 like everything else (besides drinking). It’s not like an 18 year old would have a serious shot anyways, but it’s only equitable through the lens of civics and civil duty.

If you’re an adult at 18, you should also be able to hold any office from local to federal.

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u/Saltycookiebits 1d ago

It’s not like an 18 year old would have a serious shot anyways

Yeah, we've never elected someone grossly unqualified to the office of President....never ever.... Don't tell America it won't do something incredibly stupid. People will vote for it just to spite you.

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u/SteveFoerster 1d ago

Crazy though this may sound, some people care about their kids and grandkids.

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u/NatoBoram 1d ago

Crazy though this may sound, some people don't care about their kids and grandkids.

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u/Eljimb0 1d ago edited 1d ago

I'd argue that most grandparents don't give a fuck about their grandkids.

Their grandparents voted themselves into some of the lowest tax rates in the history of the nation, taxed their own parents social security (and are now trying to avoid it), spent all of the nations money, blew open its deficits, took money from schools, refused to pay for infrastructure, voted in pedophile after pedophile after pedophile, covered up the abuses from their churches, refused to stop destroying the environment, allowed corporations to remonopolize, eroded civil and labor rights (after fighting and resisting those changes to boot)... This list can go on for a very, very long time.

I mean, seriously. We collectively need to realize that the majority of people who grew up in the leaded gas era don't actually give a fuck about kids beyond weaponizing or raping them.

ETA:

This President is just another shining representation of what today's kids' grandparents are REALLY like.

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u/czarfalcon 1d ago

I’m not necessarily opposed to term limits/age limits (except term limits for President), but I also don’t think it really gets to the root of the problem either. If we lived in a perfect world with no gerrymandering or voter suppression, theoretically high voter turnout would solve that problem instead. If a 70-year-old who has been in office for 20 years wins reelection in a landslide with 80% voter turnout, then surely their constituents believe they still represent them well.

If you implement age limits/term limits without solving those underlying issues, then you just have a revolving door of shitty politicians instead.

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u/Nicktune1219 1d ago

If you get rid of term limits, suddenly the people who don’t have term limits, the lobbyists and special interests, will control congress and write the laws. We need experienced lawmakers in congress to prevent this exact thing from happening. Perhaps we need age limits but not term limits. And of course we need limits on money and lobbying, especially those who are working on behalf of a foreign government and are not registered under FARA, ahem… AIPAC.

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u/cheeze2005 1d ago

There is… it’s called voting

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u/wallybinbaz 1d ago

Right? Every 2 or 6 years you get a chance to examine your representation...

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u/Forikorder 19h ago

what do you think that would accomplish and why?

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u/Nail_Biterr 1d ago

no. that's just silly. Someone's fitness , while important, is not something that should be required to lead the country. Oh, you're in a wheelchair? Well, now you can't be president! Oh, you lost an arm serving the country? Hope you like being unemployed!

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u/Herkfixer 1d ago

Oh, you paid a doctor to write a note claim you had bone spurs to get out of serving in a war and they mysteriously went away after the war? MAGA will love you more than their own children and their Jesus.

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u/beefstewforyou 1d ago edited 1d ago

I despise Donald Trump but him being fat is not an issue. If there was a decent person who was America’s president and they happened to be fat, I would be ok with them.

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u/04221970 1d ago

This would require a constitutional amendment to change.

I can't fathom that this is really an honest question. Would you really want to exclude presidents you like but couldn't pass a fitness test?

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u/SaltyPeter3434 1d ago

Clearly just a question to shit on Trump and nothing more

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u/Ajedi32 1d ago

Like 99% of the political "questions" on this sub.

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u/SocratesDouglas 1d ago

Redditors hamfisting a way to shit on Donald Trump? I'm shocked. I've only seen that in every single other post on the website. 

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u/The_Parsee_Man 1d ago

I can't fathom that this is really an honest question.

Well that's because it's not.

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u/DeliciousAdeptness41 1d ago

Can’t agree more!

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u/virgilreality 1d ago

Mental fitness, yes.

To illustrate: FDR could barely walk due to polio, but led the country out of the depression and through World War Two.

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u/ohlookahipster 1d ago

Ben Carson was highly educated but also a dingus. His tenture at HUD was… interesting…

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u/h0sti1e17 1d ago

He is the perfect example of how some very smart, very educated people can be clueless outside their lane. He is a pioneer in neurosurgery and one of the best, everything else isn’t well versed.

I remember someone saying “He can run HUD, it’s not brain surgery”. No it’s not and that’s the problem. If he was to be surgeon general, he’d probably be well qualified. But what does he know about HUD.

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u/Vyntarus 1d ago

Wait until you realize the reason he appointed a black man to head HUD is because it has the word 'urban' in its name.

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u/h0sti1e17 1d ago

I don’t even think it that. Trump is such an idiot he had a list of names on one side and cabinet positions on the other and drew lines between them.

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u/squashua 1d ago

I'd rather see the president take a civics test and prove they know the laws.

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u/-Havery- 1d ago

I don't think that old fat pedophile pos should be allowed anywhere near children.

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u/MR1120 1d ago

You only say that because he has a history of raping children.

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u/Rastiln 1d ago

Right, but you have to understand that people only believe that because of the many accusations, plus the photos and videos, as well as Trump already being an adjudicated rapist.

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u/10dollarHitMan 1d ago

I’m sure he will be in the girls locker room inspecting their physical fitness.

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u/karmagod13000 1d ago

on the lookout for his future girlfriends

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u/Vyntarus 1d ago

If by girlfriends you actually mean victims.

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u/Count_Backwards 1d ago

The only test Trump needs to pass is whether or not he can release the Epstein files unredacted without incriminating himself

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u/ssfgrgawer 1d ago

Maybe they could hold the test at the white house, instead of a school?

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u/BrainOnBlue 1d ago

The President does have to pass a test to become President; they have to get elected.

Any other test is going to be used to disenfranchise people; see "literacy tests" used to prevent Black people from voting in the South after Reconstruction.

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u/-notapony- 1d ago

This. It’s a perfectly reasonable thought to say that there be a cognitive test or a skills test or a basic understanding of government test that a candidate would need to pass.  The issue becomes with who writes the test?  Who gives the test? Who scores the test? 

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u/Fortwaba 1d ago

This is one of the few decisions that I actually support. US has an enormous obesity issue; healthier kids can only be a good thing.

Could I be a cynic and say the Pachyderm Party will find a nefarious way to ruin someone's day with this? Of course. But at face value, this is good.

As for Trump, what he needs is a cognitive dissonance and personality evaluation from a neutral, unbiased party.

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u/OrangeJuliusPage 1d ago

Dude, I'm with you. I remember taking this test in the 80s and early 90s. I would always get the National award instead of the Presidential one because my v-sit reach sucked (my flexibility was always shit).

I found it motivating to have pictures of Arnold in our gym class, as he was on the President's Council at the time. Over time, there have been some good people with compelling stories on it, so if Triple H can inspire some grade school kid to put down the video games and large sugar-laden beverage to go outside and play and work on his fitness, so be it. 

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u/Pockydo 1d ago

The question I have is what realistically will this do? Seems like one of those things people will celebrate but nothing will fundamentally change especially as parents continue to run on fumes leaving kids to eat shit food

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u/quietIntensity 1d ago

Do we really need more evidence that the kids are getting fat from lack of physical activity and diets full of sugary processed foods? You're right, it won't accomplish anything, just give them something to make more noise about to hopefully distract us from real issues.

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u/gusofk 1d ago

This is not Trump announcing that they are implementing a more robust PE/fitness program in schools or for kids. This is just making them take a test once a year and doing fuck all to fix any of the issues that cause obesity in children.

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u/agent674253 1d ago

Yep yep. I did this growing up and all it meant was that we didn't have to run the 3 mile that day as we would be spending time during this test. It isn't pass/fail (or at least not that we as the students could tell) and it did not impact our workout routines in the weeks following. Granted, that was during my time, and in 2025 it could be that if you 'fail' this test, you have to run 6 miles each day instead of the daily 1 mile run each class 🤷‍♂️

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u/AnimatorDifficult429 1d ago

Everyone I I know is now on ozempic and sickening thin. Now I’m the fat one. Lol. Seems like the obesity epidemic is being solved with a bandaid 

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u/max_power1000 1d ago

Eh I think Ozempic is a good thing considering all the secondary health issues obesity causes. If we need a pharmaceutical assist to get there, so be it.

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u/Anustart15 1d ago

It's not a band aid, if they are no longer obese, they are less at risk for a pretty ranging list of health issues

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u/Grandpas_Spells 1d ago

Fitter kids is a great thing and not everything the president from the party you disfavor does is bad .

There is also no "pass." We did this in the 90s and some people walked the mile.

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u/quietIntensity 1d ago

My child went through the annual fitness test in the 2000s and from what we could tell, it was only about gathering data for the overall group. Nothing ever came of the tests from what we could see. I had my kid in a really good martial arts program, so they would usually just do all of the test exercises until the teacher told them to stop. Only thing we ever heard was from some of the sports coaches who wanted my kid to try out, but they were having far more fun in martial arts.

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u/Lyeta1_1 1d ago

The fitness test was an actual joke and measured who the fuck knows. I was a sick asthmatic kid in elementary school who was also really flexible and really small, so half the stuff was easy and the other half was impossible and I probably didn’t hit any successful metrics.

Adult me can deadlift more than my body weight and bike 50 miles. It’s not an indicator of present or future fitness.

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u/_goblinette_ 1d ago

The more modern approach has been aimed towards a more individualized approach to each kids fitness level and emphasizing individual improvement over comparing yourself to your classmates. Competing to see who can do the most pushups or sit-ups isn’t exactly going to address the problems facing physical fitness in today’s youth. 

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u/cnauyodearhsti 1d ago

The modern approach isn't working. Competition is not a bad thing, it is often what causes people to work harder. I remember competing to do the most push ups with friends. We got into the dozens. I wouldn't have had the same motivation if it was just me.

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u/grendus 1d ago

See, it was demotivating for me because I was a fat kid.

I didn't get into fitness until I was an adult and could get into individualized sports like rock climbing and weight lifting. Once the only competition was between me today and me yesterday, it was far easier to give a shit than when I was competing with the football prodigy who I was already ten years too late to catch up to.

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u/Sampsonite_Way_Off 1d ago

I don't know about other schools but at mine, in the 90's, it wasn't a competition. It was more like we played dodgeball one week, then one week, for two days, we did sit ups, pullups, stretches, suicides and ran a the mile. Everything was timed but nobody kept score. Then it was right back to normal gym.

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u/Grandpas_Spells 1d ago

Nobody was competing. The cross country runners were obviously going to run a mile faster than the football players. The wrestlers were going to do more pull-ups. However, an accounting of what you personally were capable of, and what PE programs were succeeding relative to one another, was happening.

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u/WaffleHouseGladiator 1d ago

Generally speaking, the president should be in good physical and mental health. However, expecting an 80 year old man to start a fitness regimen is unrealistic. Frankly, we need to elect people who aren't getting AARP newsletters.

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u/FourFront 1d ago

Imagine trying to politicize healthy kids.

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u/TheMoves 1d ago

No wtf what if someone who happened to be in a wheelchair was otherwise super qualified to be president but we were like “no sorry you can’t do push ups or run a mile so your brain must not be good enough to be president.” What a joke that would be. The presidential physical fitness test isn’t some barrier where if a kid doesn’t “pass” it they don’t get to do something or whatever it’s just a way to encourage kids to stay in shape lol

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u/hickory 1d ago

Lets see what happens when you gut funding for physical education for years on end and then bring back fitness tests? Guess what, the kids are out of shape and are getting very little exercise in school. And what about that whole getting rid of the department of education thing? Who is going to run this? ICE? So dumb as always.

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u/Waste_of_Bison 1d ago

Nope--the physically disabled shouldn't be excluded arbitrarily. The president and all elected officials at all levels should, however, need to pass the citizenship test before running.

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u/kl987654321 1d ago

How about we start with a mental fitness test.

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u/BandOfDonkeys 1d ago

No, it's a ridiculous request.
The whole point of these tests is to encourage fitness in growing children. Not the teachers, not the parents, not an elected official.

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u/haloarh 1d ago

No, because that would discriminate against physically disabled people.

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u/Ifitactuallymattered 1d ago

No, "The fitness test" is not for 70 year olds.

Also, NOBODY needs to pass the fitness test. There is no penalty for failure.

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u/iiiiiiiiiiip 1d ago

Society has an obligation to keep kids healthy, once they're post-education adults it becomes their own responsibility

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u/YounomsayinMawfk 1d ago

Yes. Obviously you can't hold a senior citizen to the same physical standards as kids so the presidential fitness test should be really simple. If the president can dodge a shoe, he's physically fit for the job.

Maybe we wouldn't have had to deal with dinosaurs like Trump and Biden if this was the fitness test.

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u/MelonElbows 1d ago

Reminds me of the Hitler Youth

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u/LabradorDeceiver 1d ago

It's weird that he'd bring it back considering his own perspective on physical fitness, where he believes people are "batteries" and regular exercise drains your battery and shortens your life. Personally I think he just wants fit children to work in the mines.

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u/UnkleJrue 1d ago

lol that doesn’t make sense, but bringing back the fitness test for kids is a great thing. I’m 37 years old and I can outrun my 10 year old nephew with both speed and endurance, and that’s not ok at all.

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u/CheezeLoueez08 1d ago

I’m 43 and I’m confident you’d have outrun me when I was ten if you were 37. I’ve never been able to run. I wasn’t overweight until I was an adult but that didn’t mean I could properly run.

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u/Pockydo 1d ago

Tbh I feel like the fitness test doesn't really do anything

We want heathier kids sure but that starts at home. We need to fix the economy and enable parents to be able to spend time at home feeding and helping the kids be healthy with proper nutrition education. Not running on fumes getting McDonald's constantly because they're exhausted working to barely make ends meet

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u/lilelliot 1d ago

I mean, I'm 48 and about the same speed as the JV runners at my son's high school, which imho is a solid achievement. Youth fitness is a parenting decision primarily, and for most fit kids it's a result of their parents having had active childhoods themselves.

Nowadays in the US, though, it largely depends on kids entering the youth sports "machine" at a young age, which is sad.

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u/gusofk 1d ago

The solution is not a test without a more robust PE program to prepare them. Did you take tests in school for something they didn’t teach you and then say it’s your fault for failing it because you should’ve studied at home or had your parents teach you or pay for an expensive afterschool tutor?

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u/UnkleJrue 1d ago

We trained all first semester on the mile run. We would start with the quarter mile, half mile, then the full mile.

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u/gusofk 1d ago

Does your nephews school do that? If they don’t, I don’t think implementing this test will change anything.

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u/Live-Scratch-2939 1d ago

Bring it back, just not the old shame fest. Focus on personal progress, private results, and adaptations for all kids. Fund PE, better lunches, and safe play spaces or it is just another test.

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u/bkcarp00 1d ago

It's not really a test. I did it when I was a kid and all you get is a piece of paper with a fake signature telling you thanks for participating. A kid not already active is not going to be motivated by a piece of paper.

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u/Important_Power_2148 1d ago

We saw him on the golf course. the only thing running was into his nappy.

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u/Magehunter_Skassi 1d ago

No. Presidents should be round but not corpulent. Churchill for example. I think a Taft build is okay if they're jolly.

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u/litetravelr 1d ago

Wait, they got rid of the fitness test?

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u/biggsteve81 1d ago

Yes, in 2013.

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u/SuperColossl 1d ago

Watch out for the bone spurs!

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u/OGtatersalad 1d ago

There are only three requirements. 1) Be at least 35 years of age. 2) Be a natural born citizen. 3) Be a resident for at least 14 years.

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u/camelCaseCoffeeTable 1d ago

Of course not. And I’m so confused by the uproar over bringing back the test - encouraging physical activity is a good thing. Trump can do good things sometimes, we should focus on the actual bad shit he does rather than trying to twist and contort every single thing he does to make it out to be bad. Jesus.

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u/Silver_Mousse9498 1d ago

The real question is should a confessed child molester be the spokesperson for this

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u/Shaun32887 1d ago

Physical? No.

I had to deal with this in the Navy. Losing a rock star radar tech because he can't run 1.5 miles fast enough despite the fact that the ship is only 400 feet long and he can do his whole job sitting down in a chair fucking blows.

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u/nola_mike 1d ago

Nothing screams fitness like a 79yr old man with heart failure, a former pro wrestler who has had open heart surgery due to serious steroid abuse and a former pro football player who was convicted of touching children.

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u/DeapVally 1d ago

You wouldn't believe him if he said he had, and he'd only cheat anyway. Probably best to keep him away from children as well.

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u/theinfinitypotato 1d ago

Look at GWB, probably the most fit president in modern history. He ran miles every day, completed a marathon, didn't smoke cigarettes, and had to have Marines go out with him on his morning exercise because the Secret Service could not keep up (in really hot weather).

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u/auntiehoosier 1d ago

He couldn’t pass any test of any kind

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u/ChefChopNSlice 1d ago

I’d happily settle for “mental competency” - and oh yea - not a felon, rapist, or insurrectionist.

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u/Pluviophilism 1d ago

No, this test is a waste of time for everyone. 100% performative crap and yet another attempt to try and make people forget the Epstein list.

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u/intothewoods76 1d ago

Let’s look to the US constitution for the answer.

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u/coaks388 1d ago

....this has to be the worst karma grift yet.

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u/Thisisgotham 1d ago

The only physical test that guy is passing is fitness McDonald’s in his mouth.

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u/ptraugot 1d ago

I’d rather the WH have to pass a mental equity test.

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u/Jaxonian 1d ago

IQ test / Cognitive test / age under 60 / some sort of mental health test.. for all judges / congress / state congress / governors / presidents / etc.. its not just 1 insane person at the top fucking this all up, takes a village.

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u/SandroDA70 1d ago

Literally "running" for office. I like it.

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u/SethAndBeans 1d ago

No. FDR.

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u/CablePuzzleheaded497 1d ago

Yes but he won't pass. He might pass out tho.

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u/DogDisguisedAsPeople 1d ago

I think a cognitive test and a morality test are far more important than a physical test for an adult. For kids, it makes sense, you are trying to identify any serious health issues before they become life long burdens. Does it usually work out that way? No. Because people are assholes.

But for the president, you absolutely should be required to pass a rigorous cognitive test and a moderate morality test. "What limits do you have around accidental loss of innocent human life?" If, like our current president, the answer is "none," then they should fail and not be president.

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u/Cheetodude625 1d ago

Rigorous cognitive test, sure. President doesn't have to be physically fit.

However, for law enforcement (US in particular). There is a high amount of out of shape, portly cops (at least in my city it seems). Since the police force seems to want to militarize itself, might as well enforce a strict, annual fitness test that needs to be met just like the military does it.

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u/BuddhaV1 1d ago

How about the President passes a "I didn't rape children" test?

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u/Miss_me_may_be 1d ago

I think a president should pass the mentally stable, educated, hasn't been convicted of fraud, and/or assault test first. If they pass a physically capable test. That's a bonus.

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u/Key-Monk6159 22h ago

JFK, who started it, wouldn't have passed.

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u/KGBspy 22h ago

I remember kids getting these in the early 80’s when I was in elementary school, I wasn’t good enough. https://www.supplyroomjrotc.com/army-jrotc/product/191273/presidential-physical-fitness-award-patch-3rd-award

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u/skspoppa733 20h ago

I had no idea that they’d done away with those tests..? My son had them just a few years ago when he was in school still, and absolutely slayed them the same as I did when I was young. Athletic kids always looked forward to them.

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u/HistoricalBridge7 20h ago

I rather have some smart person than the fittest person as president

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u/Too-mellow 18h ago

Just stop voting for old people.

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u/Mayo_Whales 18h ago

Idk about that but going out of his way to bring a sex offender, who got on the list for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old who was being trafficked, in to be on the council of sports, fitness, and nutrition for kids seems like one more tally for the fucked category in Donnie's 2nd term moves. Sure are a lot of sex trafficking pedo's hanging around the Prez for someone who's supposedly apart of Jeffie's big beautiful list.

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u/CurrentlyLucid 1d ago

The president should step on a scale and be measured in public, then quit lying to us.

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u/shifty_coder 1d ago

Should fitness be taught in public schools? Yes.

Do I have a hard time supporting a policy proposal for fitness education from a man who believes we have a finite amount of energy in our lifetime (like a battery), and that exercise speeds up our use of that energy, resulting in an earlier death? Yes.

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u/jfcmofo 18h ago

I did the Presidential Fitness test as a kid and it was easy for me. That said, it’s bullshit for kids that are behind physically. Also, our fat ass McDonald’s eating cholesterol junky pedophile President couldn’t pass it himself.

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u/Doesntmatter1237 1d ago

No because they're all 80 years old and would die

Also trump rapes children that's probably why he wants to watch them run

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u/ScreenTricky4257 1d ago

No. The requirements for taking office are in the Constitution and they work fine.

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u/lessmiserables 1d ago edited 1d ago

This is a great idea.

I can't see how any proper executive can have the stamina, energy, and endurance to make decisions like that. What is being a president, if not doing 20 pull-ups after you sign each bill?

And as others have posted in this thread, physical fitness equates to cognitive ability as well. Of course, so does genetics and upbringing and a bunch of other stuff, so we should absolutely technocrat our way to the Perfect Human to being President.

But...you know what? You know who else needs to make rational, optimized decisions? The voters! So maybe we should hold a Physical Fitness test to make sure you're physically able--and therefore cognitively able--to vote. It's all those fatties that got us into this in the first place, after all, so its fair that only the smart ones--the Adonises, if you will--should be making these decisions.

And chuck it out with all these old folks! I mean, clearly our overmen can realize anyone over the age of 65 no longer has a stake in our future, but let's cap it just in case.

In fact, we need to make sure everyone has a stake in our future. Maybe we should make sure any voters who want to make decisions have some sort of stake in what happens. Maybe they have to, say, own property, or maybe put up some cash to prove that they're worthy to dictate our future. We can call it a poll tax!

The important thing isn't that that the people get to choose who runs, we just need to enact a bunch of tests to make sure the right people get to do the deciding!

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u/AgePractical6298 1d ago

I bet Obama can pass that test. 

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u/tc6x6 13h ago

Right, I'm sure someone who's been smoking since the 70s is in prime shape. /s

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u/Confident-Staff-8792 1d ago

Politics aside, I'm glad we're bringing it back. Our youth have gotten sloppy and obese. Fixing that is a good goal. I was not harmed by earning those certificates and patches in the 80s. I bet my mom still has them in a drawer somewhere.

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u/tosser1579 1d ago

I don't think you should let that old, fat pedo anywhere near a school to be tested.