Nikki Haley won’t say whether Trump is fit for the presidency
Tiana Lowe Doescher
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE — Although Nikki Haley warned Donald Trump prior to announcing her presidential bid in February, she would not say that her former boss was fit for the presidency when asked, point-blank, by the Washington Examiner.
“I think anybody can run for president if they want,” Haley said in an exclusive interview during her tour of the Granite State at the end of May. “But I have said we have lost the last seven out of eight popular votes for president. We want and should want to get the majority of Americans. We need someone who’s going to win a general.”
Haley, who served as Trump’s widely lauded Ambassador to the United Nations, notably reneged on her declaration that she would not challenge the former president for the 2024 nomination if he ran for the GOP ticket. Although Haley has refused to weigh in on E. Jean Carroll’s successful sexual battery lawsuit against Trump, Haley has a different tact for targeting Trump: his advanced age.
“But more than that, we need to move from the past,” says Haley. “We need to move from the baggage we’ve got to move forward. And I strongly think we need a new generational leader to do that. I was proud to work in Trump’s administration. I agree with him on a lot of issues. But my approach is different. And that’s what I’m trying to show people is we’ve got a different approach, a different style. And at the end of the day, we’ve got a country to say and I’m determined to make sure that we do that.”
Trump turns 77 — the average life expectancy for an American man — later this month, and Joe Biden, who turned 80 last year, is the oldest president in the nation’s history. Haley, who is 51, famously made headlines when former CNN pundit Don Lemon said the former South Carolina governor “isn’t in her prime.”
Haley, who served as Trump’s widely lauded Ambassador the United Nations, notably reneged on her declaration that she would not challenge the former president for the 2024 nomination if he ran for the GOP ticket. Although Haley has refused to weigh in on E. Jean Carroll’s successful sexual battery lawsuit against Trump, Haley has a different tact for targeting Trump: his advanced age.
“But more than that, we need to move from the past,” says Haley. “We need to move from the baggage we’ve got to move forward. And I strongly think we need a new generational leader to do that. I was proud to work in in Trump’s administration. I agree with him on a lot of issues. But my approach is different. And that’s what I’m trying to show people is we’ve got a different approach a different style. And at the end of the day, we’ve got a country to say and I’m determined to make sure that we do that.”
Trump turns 77 — the average life expectancy for an American man — later this month, and Joe Biden, who turned 80 last year, is the oldest president in the nation’s history. Haley, who is 51, famously made headlines when former CNN pundit Don Lemon said the former South Carolina governor “isn’t in her prime.”