Haley goes after Trump and Biden as ‘grumpy old men’ while courting older voters in South Carolina

On a cool February night in this popular enclave for tourists and retirees to enjoy warmer winters, hundreds of Nikki Haleysupporters packed into a restaurant where the former South Carolina governor repeated a familiar line.

Don’t you think it’s time we had mental competency tests for anyone over the age of 75?” Haley asked the crowd filled with seniors, who responded with loud applause. “These are people making decisions on our national security. These are people making decisions on the future of our economy. We need to know they’re at the top of their game.”

Haley, 52, has pitched herself as the leader of the next generation since launching her campaign almost a year ago. Her attacks on former President Donald Trump’s mental fitness have sharpened in recent months, and, with the state’s Republican primary in sight, the campaign recently started a media campaign in South Carolina casting Trump and President Joe Biden as two grumpy old men.

It could be a risky pitch in a place where Haley needs the support of senior voters. South Carolina was the fastest growing state in 2023, largely due to an influx of almost 40,000 retirees, according to the US Census Bureau. But even as Haley seeks to draw in older voters – especially those who have moved to the state in recent years – her campaign is leaning into distinctions between her relative youth compared with Biden and Trump.

Maureen Bulger, a 69-year-old retiree who moved to Hilton Head from New Jersey in 2022, watched Haley’s remarks intently from the back of the restaurant. She’s planning on voting for the former South Carolina governor in the primary on February 24, in part because she agrees with Haley’s argument that older politicians should step aside.

“As we age, your knees don’t work the way they used to. Your brain might be sharp, but it takes energy to be the president of the United States, and it takes a lot of fortitude,” Bulger said. “I just don’t think our country should be with someone who is going on his way out, when we still have so much young blood.”

In her remarks on the night of the New Hampshire primary last month, Haley urged Republican and Democratic voters to move away from Trump, 77, and Biden, 81, saying, “The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to be the party that wins this election.” A recent Haley campaign ad labeled both Biden and Trump as “grumpy old men” and “stumbling seniors.” And in an appearance on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” Haley joked voters would “see dead people” if both candidates appeared on the general election ballot.

But the Haley campaign is also courting the support of South Carolina retirees, a growing portion of the Republican primary voter pool. The state remains an attractive destination for retirees, many of whom settle in South Carolina after living in moderate or Democratic-leaning areas.

That dynamic puts pressure on Haley to carefully walk a line between making the case for generational change at the top of the Republican Party and not alienating older voters who could help close the gap between her and Trump. Haley finished third behind Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (who has since dropped out) in the Iowa caucuses and came in second behind Trump in the New Hampshire primary. A Washington Post/Monmouth University poll released last week of potential Republican primary voters in South Carolina showed Trump with 58% support, while 32% said they backed Haley.

For some of the voters at Haley’s rallies, it appears she is striking the right chord.

Anna Memmo, 61, has been coming to Hilton Head for 25 years. She now lives in South Carolina full time after previously making trips from her home in Virginia, and she’s planning to vote for Haley in the primary. She thinks age and mental competency should be factors in considering who to vote for.

“Whether it’s the Biden ticket or the Trump ticket, I do feel that it’s very important to … consider age and cognitive skills,” Memmo said. “I think it’s a very important role. I mean, the president of the United States.”

Haley’s attacks on Trump’s and Biden’s mental acuity put some of her older supporters in the awkward position of defending the former United Nations ambassador even as they disagree with her decision to hit the candidates for their age.

Ray Makalous, a 75-year-old Haley supporter, has lived in Hilton Head for seven years after spending most of his life in Kansas. He said he wouldn’t vote for Biden or Trump if Trump won the nomination. But he said he’s somewhat put off by Haley diminishing her rivals based on their age.