Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is likening President Biden and former President Donald Trump to the crotchety characters from the rom-com “Grumpy Old Men.”
The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has ratcheted up her age-based attacks against Mr. Trump in the GOP nomination race in the hopes of weakening him before the Feb. 24 primary in her home state of South Carolina.
The Haley campaign on Wednesday opened up a new line of “Grumpy Old Men” attacks, saying “no one wants” a Biden-Trump rematch, and warning that the “stumbling seniors” are trying to hide their mental decline from voters.
“Both Trump and Biden will be octogenarians in the White House and are plagued by obvious signs of mental confusion and fatigue,” Team Haley said in a news release. “Both Trump and Biden spent like drunken sailors, causing the record-breaking inflation that is crippling so many American families.”
“Both Trump and Biden are consumed by investigations, chaos and incompetence when America needs to move forward and get results,” the campaign said.
The 1993 romantic comedy “Grumpy Old Men” featured a pair of feuding elderly neighbors played by actors Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, who were close friends off the screen. It was a hit and the two filmed a sequel two years later called “Grumpier Old Men.”
Ms. Haley, 52, has anchored her campaign message on the idea that it is time for a new, younger generation of conservative leaders in the Republican Party, proposing that elected leaders should be required to take mental competency tests when they reach 75.
Mr. Biden is 81, the oldest occupant ever of the Oval Office. Mr. Trump is 77.
She has rolled that into a sharpening critique of Mr. Trump in recent weeks, saying he is “unhinged” and will drag down the GOP in down-ticket races. She has angered the former president by staying in the race despite losses in the first two nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.