Last year, presidential hopeful Nikki Haley called for “mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.” At the time, Haley was presumed to be referring to former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner in the GOP’s presidential primary.
Now, Haley is talking about mental fitness again… and she’s referring to Trump by name.
Trump, erroneously, described Haley as the one in charge of U.S. Capitol security. Trump appeared to be describing Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker during half of Trump’s presidency.
The House sergeant-at-arms reports to the House speaker, and the Senate’s equivalent sergeant reports to the Senate majority leader. Both sergeants, along with two other officials, sit on the four-member board overseeing the U.S. Capitol Police.
Nikki Haley has served as governor of South Carolina and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations… but never as House speaker or a member of Congress.
Ahead of the New Hampshire primary, Haley pounced on Trump’s gaffe.
“They’re saying he got confused, that he was talking about something else, he’s talking about Nancy Pelosi,” Haley, 52, said on Saturday.
“He mentioned me multiple times in that scenario. 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 someone else that we question whether they’re mentally fit to do this.”
Haley also slammed Trump for recalling his run against former President Barack Obama (Trump ran against Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, but not Obama.)
“He said multiple times that he ran against President Obama. He didn’t run against President Obama,” Haley said.
“We all saw what happened at the rally last night. That wasn’t the first time. Go back and look. Here you have a situation. I’m not saying that he is in any way like Joe Biden, but Joe Biden is not what he was two years ago… When you’re 80, that’s what happens. You’re just not as sharp as you used to be.
Speaking at a Bloomberg News forum on Saturday in Manchester, Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney referenced Haley’s remarks and said Trump “made a pretty apparent gaffe last night.”
Trump’s campaign has described the former president’s remarks as intentional. They said that Trump was commenting on the similarities between Haley and Pelosi.
“It’s a distinction without a difference. It’s Nikki and Nancy,” the Trump campaign’s senior adviser, Chris LaCivita, told reporters Saturday. “What’s the difference?”
Take a look —
SEE IT: Nikki Haley now attacking Trump's mental fitness, claims, “When you’re 80, that’s what happens. You’re just not as sharp as you used to be," uses Trump's error yesterday when he seemed to confuse her with Nancy Pelosi on J6 to hammer him. WATCH pic.twitter.com/OM4ZDqbCkS
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) January 20, 2024
Nikki Haley calls for "mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old." pic.twitter.com/Plgxi3Pqhn
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 15, 2023
At his rally Saturday night in Manchester, Trump said that he took a cognitive test and “aced it.”
“I’ll let you know when I go bad. I really think I’ll be able to tell you,” Trump, 77, added. “I feel my mind is stronger now than it was 25 years ago. Is that possible?”
Trump picked Haley to serve as his United Nations ambassador but has ramped up his criticism of her campaign as the year’s votes have gotten underway.
Both Trump and Haley are vying to win New Hampshire’s presidential primary on Tuesday.
Haley has long polled better in New Hampshire than Iowa. In one survey, Haley was polling in a dead heat with the former president.
However, Haley has suffered some setbacks since that poll. She finished third in Iowa.
Plus, she’s dealing with some unknowns. Iowa’s second-place finisher, Ron DeSantis, suspended his campaign Sunday to endorse Trump.
Since Iowa, Haley’s been endorsed by some also-rans, like former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Meanwhile, Trump is collecting some endorsements of his own. Tim Scott — a former candidate for president and a Republican senator from Haley’s home state — endorsed the former president Friday during a call-and-response speech in New Hampshire. Scott was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Haley.
On Saturday, Trump stumped in New Hampshire with a robust complement of other backers from South Carolina, including Gov. Henry McMaster and several U.S. House members.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed.