Nikki Haley getting under Trump's skin by bringing up his advanced age

With Republicans trying to undercut President Joe Biden's bid for re-election by pointing out his age, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) is using the same tactic on Donald Trump as she battles him for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

According to a report from the Washington Post, it's working and has knocked the embattled ex-president off message at the same time as he is fending off multiple costly criminal and civil trials.

As the Post's Mariana Alfaro wrote, the normally aggressive Trump is being forced to play "defense" after Haley made Trump's age and his declining cognitive skills a central talking point of her insurgent campaign.

After coming upon in third in Iowa earlier this week, Haley upped her attack on Trump by stating, "The majority of Americans think that having two 80-year-olds running for president is not what they want,” and following that up by noting ten ex-president's "tantrums" during his recent court appearances.

ALSO READ: Why Biden doesn’t need to become Obama to defeat Trump

That appears to have stung Trump who has been devoting time to once again defending his state of mind.

According to the Post's Alafaro, "The attacks appear to be bothering the former president, who on Wednesday night spent a good portion of his remarks talking about how young he feels and boasting about his cognitive abilities."

"While Haley, like other 2024 GOP candidates, attacked Biden for his age — saying point-blank in a recent television advertisement that 'Biden’s too old' — she had largely avoided reminding voters that Trump, the GOP’s longtime front-runner, is a septuagenarian," she added before noting Haley's senior strategy is paying dividends with conservative voters.

According to GOP strategist Doug Heye, "We — both voters and Republicans — focus a lot on Biden’s age, and with good reason. Trump’s age has not received the same scrutiny.”

He added, "Much of Trump’s base is unshakable, and while he is a ball of energy, should he do something that shows his age wearing on him, there will be a negative reaction.”

For his part, Trump — who participated in a rambling interview on Thursday night on Fox News — pushed back during a New Hampshire campaign event, telling a crowd, "Cognitively? I mean, I’m up here making a speech with no notes. I’ve got these teleprompters, I haven’t started practically reading them yet.”

You can read more here.