Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is working to grab some percentage points in the GOP primary race from presumptive leader Donald Trump and his closest competitor, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Haley announced her candidacy for the 2024 Republican nomination recently, but poll results generally still show only Trump and DeSantis polling above single digits among likely GOP voters.
Haley knows how to grab attention. She’s not an all-out Culture Wars candidate like many of new MAGA Republicans, but she knows when there’s an issue in her wheelhouse. Haley had suggested mental competency tests for politicians over 75, starting a firestorm about the subject of acuity in advanced age and how it may impact responsible governance.
Not coincidentally, of course, President Joe Biden is 80 — above the age she suggests. And perhaps even more interesting is the fact that presumptive GOP leader Donald Trump, at 76, is also above the age where Haley would require testing. (Haley is 51.)
Looks like we’ve hit a nerve with liberals & the ladies of The View (again). They're triggered by the idea of cognitive tests for politicians 75+.
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 20, 2023
They seem to forget government should work for the people, not the other way around.
Our movement is about taking power away… https://t.co/fMWxDqpXyd pic.twitter.com/5bFRxC0zSl
CNN’s Don Lemon gave Haley a political gift by saying, while discussing her proposal, that Haley herself was past her “prime.” Haley took that ball and ran with it, not only firing back at Lemon, but sounding gleeful when she says she “hit a nerve with liberals & the ladies of The View (again). They’re triggered by the idea of cognitive tests for politicians 75+.”
The video she shares (above) to demonstrate the so-called “triggered” liberal reaction features The View co-host Sunny Hostin, a former trial attorney at the Justice Department, Democrat, and longtime TV journalist. Hostin objects to the proposed testing of senior officials based on age, saying that we are one of the rare countries that doesn’t value highly enough the experience that advanced age bestows. On air, Hostin shows Haley giving a speech and responds.
“How dare she say that someone over 75 needs a mental acuity test? Hostin asks, when the clip is over. Meanwhile, no doubt Haley is grateful for the air time and exposure that The View gave her, even if the hosts disagree with her points.
