WATCH: Don Lemon slams Nikki Haley and says she ‘isn’t in her prime’
Maria Leaf
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CNN This Morning host Don Lemon took a swipe at Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Thursday, when he said the 51-year-old “isn’t in her prime.”
His comments came after Haley, 51, said there should be a mandatory competency test for politicians more than 75 years of age.
“This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable,” Lemon began. “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. When a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s, and 30s and maybe 40s.”
Lemon, 56, then was quick to say it was “not according to” him and told the audience to “Google it.”
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Lemon’s co-host Poppy Harlow was quick to challenge him on his statement.
“Prime for what?” Harlow asked. “I think we need a qualifier. Are you talking about prime for, like, childbearing, or are you talking about prime for being president?”
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Lemon responded by saying, “Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just saying what the facts are. Google it.”
He then quickly pivoted to the fact that “older people vote. Older people watch linear television. And so she needs to be careful about turning off a certain constituency who may be her strongest set of supporters.”
Co-host Kaitlan Collins came to Lemon’s defense, saying, “More old people vote than younger people,” adding, “Voters do have real concerns about Biden’s age and Trump’s age.”
Lemon then took it a step further, using his 80-year-old mother as an example.
“She is sharp, sharp, sharp. I mean, is she as physically strong as she once was? No. But mentally, she’s sharp. Could she run the country if she wanted to? I guess she could. But it just depends on the individual.”
Lemon added that he felt uncomfortable discussing it and doesn’t like when age is used as a “wedge issue.”
When you do a web search as he advised the audience to do, the answer that pops up is, “A woman’s prime is referring to an age range where a woman feels physically and sexually at her peek. Often, it’s in the late 30s to early 40s but can extend far into the 50s.”
Haley responded to Lemon’s comments on Twitter.
“Liberals can’t stand the idea of having competency tests for older politicians to make sure they can do the job. BTW it’s always the liberals who are the most sexist,” Haley tweeted.