Reagan Answers Sanford’s Complaint With a Wisecrack

President Reagan today dismissed with a wisecrack a Democratic senator’s complaints about the way Reagan has been criticizing Senate consideration of Robert H. Bork’s Supreme Court nomination.

On Wednesday, Sen. Terry Sanford (D-N.C.) said: “We are tired of having our integrity impugned. We are tired of having our sincerity questioned. We are tired of having our intelligence insulted. It is time for that corrosive dialogue to stop.”

Reagan, asked by a reporter about Sanford’s comments as he met with Republican senators today, said, “Well, there is some debate about what constitutes intelligence.”

Asked whether he was suggesting that Sanford, a former president of Duke University, lacked intelligence, the President said, “Make your own judgment.”