Barbara Walters Defends Reagan

Barbara Walters saw a lot of the 40th president during his time in office and she's disputing claims by Ron Reagan Jr. that he was showing signs of Alzheimer's while still in office:

In Ron Reagan Jr.’s new book, “My Father at 100,” he says his father, President Ronald Reagan, exhibited signs of mental lapse during the end of his first term in office. And although Ron Reagan has since backtracked from some of those claims, there is still the question – did President Ronald Reagan show signs of mental deterioration while in office?

According to Barbara Walters, the answer is no. Walters was the moderator of the 1984 presidential debate between then-Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale and Reagan, which is where Ron Reagan alleged his father first showed signs of Alzheimer’s.

“The 100th birthday of President Ronald Reagan is coming up and his son has a new book, ‘My Father at 100,’ where he claims in the book that his father showed signs of Alzheimer’s during his first term in office – specifically mentions the 1984 presidential debate with Democrat Walter Mondale, where Ron, Jr. writes that his father looked lost and bewildered,” Walters said on ABC’s Tuesday broadcast of “The View.” “Well, as it happens, I was a moderator of that debate. It was in 1984. It was an hour and 40 minutes. That’s a long time. And maybe he stumbled over one answer or so forth. But I don’t remember — an hour and 40 minutes to answer questions and to answer questions from a panel, and he was with it.”

Ballerina Boy Ron Jr. simply wants to sell books, and there's no better way to get the networks to promote your book than to make allegations against a conservative icon.  He wants his piece of the 100th birthday pie.