Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley launched her strongest attack yet on her rival’s age, claiming on Tuesday that Donald Trump has “deteriorated” mentally since he first ran for the White House. .
“Are we really going to have two 80-year-olds running for president in this country?” Haley, 52, said on “CBS Morning,” referring to President Biden, 81, and President Trump, 77. he said.
“It’s true that when you get to their age, you decline mentally. I don’t care who you are. You decline mentally,” she said.
Haley noted that President Trump has been confused with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times during recent rally speeches.
“Not only does he confuse me, he mentioned it over and over again. He’s not the guy he was in 2016. [when he first ran for president]. He said no,” she said.
Trump’s biggest rival has criticized both Biden, his biggest opponent in the Republican Party, and Biden, who is seeking a second term, and has called for generational change in the White House.
Trump’s campaign has complained that he has lost consecutive states to him in Iowa and New Hampshire, and that he is trailing in the polls in his home state of South Carolina.
“At this point, Nikki Haley is just a pro-war Democratic mouthpiece for pro-war Democratic donors, and clearly voters don’t buy into the stupidity she spews,” Trump surrogate Caroline said. Leavitt told the Post. “Had she done that, Nikki would have lost Iowa by more than 30 points, lost New Hampshire by double digits, lost Nevada, and lost her home state of South Carolina. We wouldn’t have suffered the worst loss ever.”
On Saturday, President Trump spoke at a rally in Nevada and said he felt “more intelligent now than I was 20 years ago.”
Haley has repeatedly questioned Trump’s mental competency, but has so far avoided directly accusing Trump of his “decline.”
“My concern is, and I don’t mean this in a derogatory way, but when you’re dealing with the pressures of the presidency, it makes you question whether you’re mentally fit to do this.” You can’t put anyone else like that,” Haley said on January 20 while campaigning in New Hampshire.
“My parents are old enough and I love them dearly,” she told reporters at a campaign stop earlier in the day. “But once they reach a certain age, you see a decline. That’s a fact — ask any doctor, you see a decline.”
Despite her remarks, Haley continued to insist that she believes Trump is “qualified” to be president.
The former U.N. ambassador called for all presidential candidates to undergo a mental acuity test, but Biden has refused.
President Trump went a step further and called for both a mental and physical exam.
Haley’s attitude toward Trump has escalated as both men continue to vie for the Republican nomination.
She is preparing to face him in the Feb. 24 South Carolina primary, hoping she can defend the territory she once served as governor.
