Former President Donald Trump recently stated that he would defeat Nikki Haley in a mental aptitude test which is an exercise not typically associated with winning or losing.
Speaking with Fox News’ Martha MacCallum in New Hampshire on Monday, Trump questioned Haley’s cognitive abilities.
“She has been coming after you strongly in the past few days,” she said on The Story. “It’s worked both ways. You’ve come after her as well. She keeps bringing up your age lately. What do you say about that?”
Trump, who is favored to win Tuesday’s Republican primary in the Granite State, responded:
“Well, I think I’m a lot sharper than her. I would do this. I would sit down right now and take an aptitude test and it would be my result against her result and she’s not gonna win. She’s not gonna even come to close to winning.
In fact, when I heard the word “cognitive,” you know, I’ve taken two of them now. I took one with Doc Ronnie, who’s now a fantastic, you know, White House doctor and a fantastic congressman from Texas. Admiral. The White House doctor. Jackson. Ronny Jackson. And he’s now a great congressman from Texas. I took one then and I took one recently. I think the result was announced and it was– I aced it twice. I aced it.
But I would say that, you know, I’ve actually called for a cognitive test for anybody running for president because I actually think that’s a good idea. It’d be nice to have an intelligent person be president.”
Haley has advanced the idea of requiring candidates over the age of 70 to pass cognitive tests as a precondition for taking office. The proposal is a not-so-subtle dig at Trump, 77, and President Joe Biden, 81.
Republicans have made much of Biden’s lapses and gaffes, though there has been less focus on the former president’s mental blunders. At a rally on Friday, Trump repeated Haley’s name before falsely claiming she was in charge of Capitol security on the day of the Jan. 6 riot he incited.
