Dems take notes as Nikki Haley raises questions about Trump's age and mental fitness
HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TND) — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley made the ages of the top presidential candidates a top political topic during the beginning of her campaign, and now she's returning to that message after former President Donald Trump's recent gaffes on the trail.
Democratic strategists are looking for ways to capitalize on that narrative in the general election.
Haley raised the issue after Trump blamed her instead of a favorite target of his -- former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — for security lapses during the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. He made the comment during a New Hampshire campaign stop Saturday, days before the Granite State's primary.
“I wasn’t in D.C. on January 6th,” Haley said shortly afterward. “I had nothing to do with the Capitol.” She was Trump's U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations during his first term before stepping down in 2018.
The mix up is not the first time Trump's muddled historical events, Haley noted.
“He said multiple times that he ran against President Obama," she said of the 77-year-old Trump, who never campaigned for president against Obama. "These things happen because, guess what? When you’re 80, that’s what happens."
In an apparent attempt to dismiss those concerns, Trump said at a campaign stop this weekend that he "aced" a cognitive test a few months back. Designers behind such exams have questioned Trump's claims in the past, noting that he has bragged about answering questions that are not included in the exam, according to The Washington Post.
Senior Trump campaign advisor Chris LaCivita dismissed Haley's barb, telling his followers on Twitter (now rebranded as X): "Nancy . Nikki . its (sic) a distinction without a difference."
Haley attempted to tie Trump's age to that of President Biden,who would turn 85 in the third year of another term. For his part, Biden shared Haley's comments on social media, writing "Haley reacts to Trump's delusional and confused rant. I question if he's mentally fit."
The former South Carolina governor is not the only Republican calling out Trump's mental acuity.
Gov. Ron DeSantis also leaned in on the former president earlier this month. When comparing Trump 8 years ago to the man today, "I mean, it's just a different guy that you're seeing there," the Florida governor said in Iowa before ending his presidential campaign Sunday.
Whether Haley's new strategy hits pay dirt remains to be seen. As the only other main contender in the GOP field, she's still far behind Trump in New Hampshire, even as she's nearly doubled her level of support since November.
A new Washington Post poll -- conducted before Trump mixed up Haley and Pelosi -- shows the former president is still in the driver seat. He's leading in the race 52% to Haley's 34%. In that same poll, 8% of those surveyed supported DeSantis.
Democrats are taking notice of the back and forth, if for no other reason than to look for ways to neutralize the same barbs being used against Biden.
“Trump is all about projecting,” New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley said. “Trump’s a crook so he calls Hillary a crook. Trump is feeble minded, so he calls Biden feeble.”
The Biden campaign highlighted similar gaffes by Trump while on the trail. His campaign accounts often shared examples they could find of Trump stumbling over his words or times where he'd splinter off into tangents.
Former senior Obama White House adviser David Axelrod mirrored Buckley's comment, saying on social media: “Can you imagine the field day @FoxNews and Trump would have had if @JoeBiden had gone on, at length, confusing Gavin Newsom with Kevin McCarthy?!??”
While Democrats look for vulnerabilities with regard to Trump's age, others in the party warn this could backfire.
“In a perfect world, it will nullify the age arguments against Biden, but if Democrats call attention to Trump‘s gaffes, they open the door for the same scrutiny of Biden,” Basil Smikle, a Democratic strategist and director of the public policy program at Hunter College, told The Hill.
Rep. Dean Phillips, D-MN, is staging a longshot campaign to unseat Biden as the party's nominee. He told Axios that it would be "impossible" for Biden to complete another term in the White House at his age.
Polling suggests there's something to that concern. About 69% of Americans believe Biden does not have the mental sharpness to be president, according to an ABC News poll conducted earlier this month. A Wall Street Journal poll published last fall found similar results.