Right around the time Nikki Haley wrapped up her first big speech as a Republican presidential candidate, the South Carolinian became the target of Donald Trump’s political operation. The former president’s team issued a fairly long list of complaints about Trump’s new 2024 rival, accusing her of, among other things, being a Hillary Clinton admirer who endorsed former House Speaker Paul Ryan’s plan that threatened Social Security and Medicare.

But while the former president has had plenty to say about Haley, the former ambassador and former governor appears far more reluctant to talk about her former boss.

During her kickoff announcement speech, for example, the White House hopeful avoided direct references to Trump, saying instead that she was presenting herself as part of a “new generation” — a phrase that differentiates her from President Joe Biden just as much as it does from her rival for the GOP nomination.

Hours later, Haley sat down with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, who asked a fairly obvious and straightforward question: “If you had to delineate where, say, you and President Trump differ on issues, where would you start?”

She hedged, making vague comments about leaving “the status quo” and “chaos” behind, and seeking “generational leadership.”

So, the host tried again. “Former President Trump is the only other candidate for the nomination,” noted Hannity, who added: “Where do you see — if you see — policy differences beyond what you mentioned, which are generational differences? What specific policy areas would you say part with Donald Trump?”

Haley still wasn’t willing to answer in any meaningful way. “What I am saying is, I don’t kick sideways, I’m kicking forward,” she responded. Eventually, the South Carolinian added, “[Y]ou don’t have to be 80 years old to be president. We don’t need to have these same people going back again. We need something new. We need a new generation of fighters.”

There are a couple of angles to this that are worth keeping in mind as the race for the Republican nomination moves forward.

The first is that Haley is making a highly dubious pitch to primary voters. She doesn’t have a problem with Trump’s corruption, his dishonesty, his incompetence, his bigotry, or his disdain for democracy and its institutions. Rather, Haley keeps suggesting that she’s a better candidate because the former president is roughly 26 years older than her.

But that’s not much of an answer. Offered an opportunity to name a single point of substantive disagreement between herself and the ostensible front-runner for her party’s presidential nomination, Haley pointed to literally nothing. If she can’t sketch out a competing vision, and there are no meaningful differences between the two, what’s the point of her candidacy?

The second angle of note is the familiarity of the circumstances. In the 2016 election cycle, there was an enormous field of Republicans, and as the race began in earnest, much of the GOP field tried to work around Trump, assuming he’d either stumble or others would tear him down.

No one should be surprised if history repeats itself.