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 woman he meant to accuse of turning downing “10,000 people” was former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Haley jumped on the mistake, first saying he seemed confused, then questioning if Trump was mentally fit enough to serve as the next president.
At the end of January, the Haley campaign recently turned it up a notch on both the GOP and Democratic front-runners with a new ad campaign titled “Grumpy Old Men.” (Biden is 81 and Trump is 77.) According to The New York Times, Haley’s campaign plans to run online videos, digital ads and voter emails centered around this issue.
Trump is not going to like that. These clearly get under his skin, to the extent that he has started bragging about “acing” a cognitive test at campaign stops. This feels a bit like a toddler showing their parents then can tie their own shoes. But it gets worse: Intrepid Washington Post reporters tracked down the creators of the test in question, who seemed puzzled by Trump’s description of it. Both Trump and Biden have a real problem here. Joe Biden’s age is also an issue — full stop. To be clear, both Trump and Biden have a real problem here. Joe Biden’s age is also an issue — full stop. But while people may not like the idea of a president in his 80s, he has been doing the job. He is managing the economy and he is dealing with legislative and foreign leaders. And now that he’s out there campaigning, he appears to have at least a little pep in his step. Trump, on the other hand, looks haggard to me. He is not the same candidate we saw in 2016 or 2020, and his rallies double as grievance sessions. As I wrote in January, confusing President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama, or Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley, could be a sign of age, or maybe a sign of something else. Either way, it is not a good look. I think this is a smart strategy for Haley, and I hope she keeps up the pressure on Trump. She’s been pushing for him to “prove” his fitness publicly in a debate, and that’s an argument that benefits all voters. Americans deserve to see Trump — and Haley and Biden — enter this arena. Feeling confident that your candidate has the endurance and mental agility to perform his duties is literally the least we can ask. And more valuable than a pushup contest.
Susan Del Percio is a Republican strategist and a political analyst for MS NOW. 
