Shortly before the New Hampshire primaries, Republican Haley goes on the attack. She questioned former President Trump’s mental fitness. The 77-year-old mistook her for Nancy Pelosi.
The tone in the US Republican primary campaign is becoming rougher: Nikki Haley questioned the mental fitness of her rival Donald Trump during a campaign appearance in New Hampshire. “When you’re dealing with the pressures of the presidency, you can’t have someone who you wonder if they’re mentally capable of doing that,” Haley said.
She was alluding to a slip-up by Trump. The ex-president apparently confused the former US ambassador to the United Nations with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi several times when he talked about the storming of the Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021. “Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered her 10,000 people – soldiers, National Guard, whatever you want – they turned it down,” Trump said.
Haley emphasized that she was neither responsible for security at the Capitol nor was she in Washington at the time. In any case, there is no evidence to support Trump’s claim that he offered help during the siege or that such an offer was rejected, said the 52-year-old.
Haley calls for politicians to be “at the top of their game”
Haley said in an interview with Fox News that politicians at the top of the state must be “at the top of their game.” “Do we really want them to be throwing names and doing things wrong when they’re 80 years old and have to deal with Putin and Xi and Kim and North Korea?”
Trump, 77, and other Republicans have repeatedly attacked 81-year-old President Joe Biden for his age and expressed doubts about his ability to serve a second term.
Important area code in New Hampshire
Haley’s verbal attacks come just before Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. She has to achieve a good result there in order not to be seen as having no chance against Trump after her third place in Iowa. Haley planned to attend seven campaign events this weekend and Monday.
Trump is clearly ahead in polls in New Hampshire. But the gap is significantly smaller than elsewhere. It helps that voters registered as independents in the small state can also take part in the Republican primaries. This suits Republican Haley, who is classified as comparatively moderate.
Trump is the overwhelming favorite in his Republican Party’s presidential race. The winner of the statewide Republican primary will challenge incumbent Joe Biden of the Democratic Party in the November 5 presidential election. For the Democrats, the primaries are purely a formality; Biden is certain of being re-nominated as the presidential candidate.
