When Nikki Haley announced that she was running for president a year ago, the former South Carolina governor called for a “new generation of leadership,” and for “mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.” It was perceived as a jab at both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump — but more at Biden, as concerns about his age among Democratic operatives grew, and polls suggested the issue was a concern for voters. Now, as Haley digs in before the South Carolina primary on Feb. 24, she is returning to well-trodden ground.
With the GOP primary officially a two-person race, Haley is starting to crank up her attacks against Trump. (This is a welcome change from 2023, when Haley and everyone not named Chris Christie or Asa Hutchinson acted as if they were deathly afraid of offending Trump’s core followers.)
As Haley digs in before the South Carolina primary on Feb. 24, she is returning to well-trodden ground.
Team Haley is thinking first and foremost about potential donors. There are big-money backers out there, some of whom originally supported Christie, looking for a candidate who isn’t afraid of taking on Trump. If Haley doesn’t start throwing — and landing — some big punches, these donors will not support her candidacy.
Trump’s age and mental capacity make for a good line of attack. And it’s mostly Trump’s own doing.
On Jan. 19, Trump was in the middle of giving a rambling speech when he rhetorically swerved. “Nikki Haley, you know they, do you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it. All of it, because of lots of things like Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guard, whatever they want. They turned it down. They don’t want to talk about that. These are very dishonest people,” Trump said.
This was, if you didn’t catch it, a reference to a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory. But the…
Read the full article here
