Days before a key caucus in the state of New Hampshire, Nikki Haley, a candidate for the Republican nomination to be the party’s nominee in November’s presidential election, questioned whether and to what extent Donald Trump — the undisputed race favorite—is mentally fit to govern after the 77-year-old former president appeared to mistake her on stage for another politician.

During a campaign rally last Friday, Mr Trump repeatedly invoked Ms Haley’s name while referring to the January 6, 2021, attack on the federal Capitol by supporters.

“Nikki Haley is in charge of security, we offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, national guards, whatever she wanted. He refused,” he said.

In the past, the tycoon had accused Democrat Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the House of Representatives, of rejecting that offer — which there is no evidence actually happened, according to a House committee investigation.

“I wasn’t even in Washington on Jan. 6!” Ms. Haley countered yesterday, addressing voters in New Hampshire, where a key vote for her will be held on Tuesday.

“My concern is that, without saying anything offensive, when it comes to handling the pressing business of the presidency, you can’t have someone who you question whether they’re mentally fit to do it,” he added.

The former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador, who turned 52 on Saturday, also touched on the issue during an interview with Fox News: “I’m not saying he’s like Joe Biden, but what I’m saying is: we want f “Are we really going to have two eighty-year-old candidates for the presidency?”, he pounded.

“Do we really want them to forget names while being called upon to deal with Putin and Xi and Kim?” she added, referring respectively to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Mr. Trump himself often pokes fun at the blunders and age of his presidential successor, Mr. Biden, whom he portrays as roughly demented.

The former White House occupant won a landslide victory in the first Republican primary on Monday. Mrs. Haley, political analysts point out, will need a very good performance the day after Tuesday to keep her campaign for the presidency alive.