As SC’s Haley prepares to launch White House run, she and Trump take jabs at each other

Then-President Donald Trump pictured with then-U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 9, 2018. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images/TNS)

Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and her previous boss, former President Donald Trump, have taken jabs at one another as she prepares to jump into the White House race.

Haley is set to announce Feb. 15 she will run for president, putting her in competition with Trump. She previously said she would not seek the White House if Trump ran for reelection.

“Nikki Haley suffers from something that’s a very tough thing to suffer from,” Trump told radio show host Hugh Hewitt earlier this week. “She’s overly ambitious.”

Trump added he has never asked her to be vice president.

Haley afterwards tweeted out a story from 2021 where she called for older politicians to undergo a cognitive test. Haley in the story points out President Joe Biden, who is now 80, “makes everyone nervous.”

“Let’s face it: we’ve got a lot of people in leadership positions that are old. And that’s not being disrespectful. That’s a fact,” she says.

Trump is 76 years old as he seeks a second term in the 2024 election.

Haley also has said it’s time for a new generation of leaders, and has said the GOP needs a candidate who can win the popular vote in the presidential election, something Republicans have done once since 1992.

Haley would be the first Trump administration official to challenge the former president, but others may join the race.

Former Vice President Mike Pence who is considering his own run is set to visit South Carolina for the ninth time since leaving office with a visit to North Charleston Monday. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also is considering his own bid and has visited South Carolina twice since the end of the Trump administration.

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., also is a potential candidate and is planning an event in South Carolina one day after Haley launches her presidential bid, as well as a Feb. 22 visit to Iowa.

Trump on Jan. 28 held an event at the State House to roll out his South Carolina leadership team, which includes Gov. Henry McMaster, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson and others.

Trump said he spoke to Haley about her potential run.

“People change their hearts and they change their opinions,” Trump said in an interview in Columbia shortly after his State House event. “So if your heart wants to do it, you have to go do it.”