No one asked Nikki Haley to come out of hiding to give her thoughts on Biden’s disastrous Presidential debate and take a veiled shot at Trump, but here we are.
The disgraced former GOP presidential candidate granted an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. She told the outlet that she watched the debate at her South Carolina home with her husband and some friends and found Biden’s performance shocking.
“It was shocking, I think, for a lot of people,” Haley said. “What we saw was that Trump was strong, but I don’t even think that mattered because Biden was so amazingly unfit. The way he lost his train of thought, the way he couldn’t grasp topics of what he needed to talk about.”
She then issued a warning to President Trump and other Republicans that Democrats would take the smart path and replace Joe Biden with a younger, vibrant candidate.
In her view, this would not necessarily help Trump.
“They are going to be smart about it: they’re going to bring somebody younger, they’re going to bring somebody vibrant, they’re going to bring somebody tested,” Haley warned. “This is a time for Republicans to prepare and get ready for what’s to come because there is no way that there will be a surviving Democratic Party if they allow Joe Biden to continue to be the candidate.”
Haley also reiterated her pet issue of requiring older presidential candidates to submit to cognitive assessment tests. The Journal notes that in February 2023, she called for “mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.” This directly impacted both Trump and Biden because they were 76 and 80 years old, respectively, at the time.
Haley stated during the GOP presidential primary that Trump is experiencing mental “decline.” For ‘evidence’ of this, she claimed Trump confused her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
She explained to the Journal that doctors could administer the tests and should be voluntarily shared by candidates for federal office.
“Washington is full of older people, and voters need to know who is up to the challenge and who is not,” she said.
While Haley has said she will vote for Trump against Biden, inferring that he would have a more difficult time with a younger candidate while saying he should be forced to submit to a cognitive test does cause folks to wonder whether she has something up her sleeve.