Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley committed to taking a mental competency test over the weekend and called on President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to take one as well.
Haley, who is polling far behind Trump in the Republican Party presidential primary, made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Margaret Brennan on CBS News’s “Face The Nation.”
“So, Ambassador, you have made mental acuity a signature issue for your campaign for the better part of the past year,” Brennan said. “You’re handing out paper copies now of a cognitive assessment.”
“When do you plan to take it?” Brennan asked. “And are you at all concerned that you might turn off some older voters?”
Haley responded, “I have no problem taking it. And what I have said is, we need to have mental competency tests for anyone over the age of 75. I don’t care if we do it for 50 and up. But what happened with Joe Biden this week and what we’ve seen with Donald Trump is another example of why.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP
“We have to face the reality of the fact that, when you get to those ages, you get diminished,” she continued. “These are people making decisions on our national security. These are people making decisions on the future of our economy. We need to know they’re at the top of their game.”
During the rest of the interview, Haley repeatedly attacked Trump over remarks that he made about NATO and Russia as well as recent comments that Trump has made about Haley’s husband, Major Michael Haley, who is currently deployed in Africa with the South Carolina National Guard.
“It’s insulting to military members. It’s insulting to military families. And the part that bothers me is, he continues to do this. This isn’t personal about me and Michael. This is about what it says to every member who sacrifices for us,” she said. “This is about what it says to every military family who sacrifices alongside of them. We can’t have someone who sits there and mocks our men and women who are trying to protect America. It’s a pattern. It’s a pattern of chaos. It’s a pattern of irresponsibility. It’s a pattern of just saying things that are not helpful in strengthening America.”
“And this is a chance. America’s going to get to decide. We know what Donald Trump is. You could watch that whole rally yesterday, and it’ll tell you all kinds of things,” she continued. “But the thing is, do you want it again? We know what Joe Biden is. You can see the press conference. You can look at the special investigation that says he’s diminished. But do you want it again? I mean, the one thing we need to understand is, for Republicans, with Donald Trump, he lost in 2018. He lost in 2020. He lost in 2022.”
Haley also took aim at Trump for going on an “unhinged rant” after the New Hampshire primary.
“All he did was talk about revenge. And then you look, he said anyone that supported me was barred permanently from MAGA. Then he pushed the RNC to name him the presumptive nominee. Then he lost his court case and he went on a rant again,” she said. “The problem with all of that is at no point is he ever talking about the American people. He’s never talking about the fact that we have wasteful spending and we’re $34 trillion in debt. He’s not talking about the fact that only 31 percent of eighth-graders in our country are proficient in reading. He’s not talking about an open border, where all it takes is one to have a 9/11 moment. He’s not talking about the lawlessness in our cities. And he’s not talking about anything about the wars that are happening around the world. That’s the problem. That’s what we’re facing when this decision comes down in the election.”
WATCH:
