Nikki Haley's 'cheap shots' are knocking Trump off his game: analyst

Based on Donald Trump's heightened and increasingly inflammatory comments about Nikki Haley, one analyst suggested the former South Carolina Republican governor is scoring hits on his greatest vulnerability: his vanity.

The former Trump appointee to the United Nations has ramped up her attacks on the former president, pointing out his advanced age while also noting overwhelming evidence of his mental decline that often accompanies entering one's sunset years.

Those attacks have started hitting harder after the former president mistook Haley for Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) last week, a slip which was pounced upon by Democrats and set off worries among some Republicans, including a few inside his inner circle.

In South Carolina on Wednesday, Haley told rally goers, "Even on that day when he was going on and on about Jan. 6, you know we talked about he was having a moment, he was confused, but it also goes back to why I’ve continued to push for a mental competency test for anyone over the age of 75.”

In an interview with The New York Times, Sari Botton, editor of Oldster Magazine, called Haley's comments "a cheap shot," explaining, "There are so many legitimate faults, so much valid ammunition Haley could use in her fight against Trump. Why stoop to bullying with ageist tropes?’’

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However, as the Times' Guy Trebay wrote, "The answer is simple. The body has been centered in American political life ever since Mr. Trump, now 77, first tossed his hat in the ring back in 2015. Most often the body was that of a woman: dissected, derided, skewered by Mr. Trump with unvarnished glee."

According to the analyst, Haley's focus is also working, pushing Trump to become more fevered in his attacks on Haley which include using her given name of Nimrata as a racist dogwhistle and then mangling it as "Nimbra" in his Truth Social posts.

Conceding that it may not make up for Haley's loss in New Hampshire, Trebay suggested, "Ms. Haley’s age-baiting strategy has at least one instructive effect, which can be clocked every time Mr. Trump reverts to mispronouncing her name. Does anyone believe Mr. Trump thinks Nikki Haley is called Nimbra, his garbled version of Nimrata, her birth name? Or is it just as likely that his supposed error is a tell for wounded vanity?"

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