GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Tuesday claimed Donald Trump “has deteriorated” mentally since his first run at the White House — launching her strongest attack yet on her rival’s age.
“Are we really going to have two 80-year-olds running for president in this country?” Haley, 52, said on “CBS Mornings,” referring to Presidents Biden, 81, and Trump, 77.
“It’s a fact that when you’re their age, you have a mental breakdown. I don’t care who you are. You have a mental breakdown,” he said.
Haley noted that Trump repeatedly confused her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a recent rally speech.
“Not only did he confuse me, he mentioned it over and over again. He’s not what he was in 2016 [when he first ran for president]. He has refused,” he said.
Trump’s main rival has called for a generational change in the White House, criticizing both Republican arch-rivals and Biden for seeking another term.
Nikki Haley launched her strongest attack on Donald Trump’s aging on Tuesday. CBS Morning
Trump’s campaign responded by throwing him back-to-back losses in Iowa and New Hampshire and trailing poll numbers in his home state of South Carolina.
“At this point, Nikki Haley is nothing more than a pro-war Democrat mouthpiece for her pro-war Democratic donors, and it’s clear voters don’t agree with the nonsense she’s spewing,” Trump representative Karoline Leavitt told The Post. “If they did, Nikki wouldn’t have been crushed by more than 30 points in Iowa, lost by double digits in New Hampshire, lost in Nevada, and nearly had her worst loss in her home state of South Carolina.”
On Saturday, Trump said he felt “sharper now than I did 20 years ago,” while speaking at a rally in Nevada.
Haley has previously repeatedly questioned Trump’s mental capacity but has avoided making any direct accusations about Trump’s “decline” until now.
“The concern I have is, I’m not saying anything derogatory, but when you’re dealing with the pressures of the presidency, we can’t have somebody else that we’re questioning whether they’re mentally fit to do this,” Haley said Jan. 20 while campaigning in New Hampshire.
“My parents are adults, and I love them very much,” he told reporters at a campaign stop the same day. “But when you see them get to a certain age, there’s a decline. That’s a fact — ask any doctor, there’s a decline.”
Despite his statement, Haley also insisted that she believes Trump is “fit” for office.
Nikki Haley speaks at the New Hampshire primary night rally on Jan. 23 in Concord. AP Donald Trump held a campaign rally ahead of the Republican caucus in Las Vegas, Nev., on January 27. Reuters
The former UN ambassador asked all presidential candidates to take a mental acuity test, something Biden refused to do.
Trump has gone even further, asking for mental and physical tests.
Haley’s rise against Trump comes as the two continue to battle for the GOP nomination.
He is preparing to face him in South Carolina on February 24, hoping he can defend the state where he once served as governor.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
