- Saturday, March 01, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has predicted that US president Joe Biden is unlikely to make it till 86 if he is elected for a second term in 2024 and warned that his supporters would have to be content with Kamala Harris, the current vice president, in the Oval Office.
Haley, a former US ambassador to the United Nations and governor of South Carolina, made the remark while speaking at a discussion on Fox News on Wednesday (26).
The 51-year-old politician of Indian origin said this in criticism to Biden’s recent announcement that he would seek a second term. Biden, who is over 80, is the oldest president in the history of the US.
“I think that we can all be very clear and say with a matter of fact that if you vote for Joe Biden you really are counting on a President Harris, because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely,” the Republican said during the news programme.
Andrew Bates, deputy press secretary at the White House responded to Haley’s remarks saying they don’t directly respond to campaigns from there.
“But honestly, I forgot she was running,” he was quoted as saying.
Haley launched her presidential bid in February around a “new generation” of leadership and even said that candidates over 75 should undergo cognitive tests — a proposal which was criticised by US first lady Jill Biden.
Biden announced his presidential candidature on Tuesday (25) and refuses to see his age as a factor despite several attacks from his critics.
“I can’t even say – I guess, how old I am. I can’t even say the number. It doesn’t – it doesn’t register with me. I took a hard look at it before I decided to run. And I feel good,” the Democratic leader told reporters.
While those opposed to his candidature have pointed out Biden’s gaffes in public as a sign of his deteriorating health, his campaign managers and officials at the White House are trying to demonstrate that the commander-in-chief is fit.
Donald Trump, who Biden defeated in the 2020 presidential election, is also running for the White House in 2024 and will be 78 years old by the time of the election.
