Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley took aim at former president and GOP frontrunner Donald Trump in Keene, N.H., on Saturday, questioning his mental fitness after confusing her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Photo by CJ Gunther/EPA-EFE
Jan. 20 (UPI) — Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley questioned Donald Trump‘s mental fitness at a rally in Keene, New Hampshire, on Saturday, four days before the crucial GOP primary election in the state.
Haley’s jabs were in response to the former president appearing to confuse her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a Friday rally in Concord, N.H. During the speech, Trump incorrectly said Haley was in charge of Capitol security during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
“They’re saying he got confused, that he was talking about something else, he’s talking about Nancy Pelosi,” Haley said. “He mentioned me multiple times in that scenario. The concern I have is — I’m not saying anything derogatory — but when you’re dealing with the pressures of the presidency, we can’t have someone else that we question whether they’re mentally fit to do this. We can’t.”
Neither Haley nor Pelosi would have been in charge of Capitol security, but Trump regardless accused Haley of turning down 10,000 soldiers to protect the Capitol.
“By the way, they never report the crowd on January 6,” Trump told supporters. “You know, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley … did you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it? All of it, because of lots of things, like Nikki Haley is in charge of security, we offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, national guards, whatever they want. They turned it down.”
Haley, 52, has called for term limits and mental competency tests for politicians over 75. The former South Carolina governor has criticized both Trump and President Joe Biden‘s mental fitness and argued Americans shouldn’t “leave our kids two presidential candidates who are in their 80s.”
She doubled down on her condemnations in Keene Saturday, telling voters “Congress is now the most privileged nursing home in the country.”