Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley launched an ad campaign Wednesday morning targeting former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden for their age as voters express concern over their fitness for office.
Haley’s “Grumpy Old Men” campaign slams both Trump, 77, and Biden, 81, as poll after poll shows the public is weary of a repeat of the 2020 election.
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It builds upon the former South Carolina governor’s increased attacks on the campaign trail against Trump and Biden’s mental acuity as she fights for political survival ahead of the Palmetto State’s Feb. 24 primary.
The campaign features digital ads, emails to voters, and videos that link the two men together despite their differences on policy. In the five videos previewed, “Basement Buddies,” “Debate Dodgers,” “Stumbling Seniors,” “Profligate Pols,” and “Drama Divas,” Haley hits the de facto party leaders for refusing to debate and apparent signs of mental confusion.
Haley has ramped up her attacks on Trump after he appeared to mix her up with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) when discussing the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, and again when he inexplicably linked Haley’s presidential campaign to his defamation trial with writer E. Jean Carroll.
“I was not in a New York City courtroom yesterday, any more than I was in charge of security at the Capitol on January 6,” Haley slammed Trump on X last week. “I was in South Carolina meeting with voters. They’d like to see a debate between me and Trump.”
Wait a second, did Trump just say the person suing him is “running for office?” Is he confused again? I was not in a New York City courtroom yesterday, any more than I was in charge of security at the Capitol on January 6. I was in South Carolina meeting with voters. They’d like… https://t.co/Y72NYHKVtz
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 26, 2024
The Trump campaign has accused Haley of “trying to grasp at straws” over the remarks.
Voters have repeatedly told pollsters that a Biden-Trump rematch is not what they are hoping for during the 2024 cycle. A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week showed 67% of U.S. adults said they were “tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new.”
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll last month found that 56% of U.S. adults were very or somewhat dissatisfied with Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024. On the Republican side, 58% said they would be very or somewhat dissatisfied with Trump as the nominee.
The Haley campaign is betting that dissatisfaction will help bolster her narrow path to the Republican nomination. Trump defeated her in both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
But Haley is hoping a strong showing in her home state of South Carolina will help her last through Super Tuesday on March 5.
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“Nearly 50% of Republicans and 70% of Americans don’t want to watch Grumpy Old Men stumble across America when our country is on the brink and the world is on fire,” Haley spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement. “Sadly, this version of Grumpy Old Men offers no comic relief — just chaos, confusion, and a bad sense of deja vu for the American people.”
Haley repeatedly has said Biden’s reelection would lead to the eventual presidency of Vice President Kamala Harris.