The CNN "Inside Politics" panel burst into laughter on Thursday after host Dana Bash read a column from the New York Times that pointed to the fact that Nikki Haley appears to have found Donald Trump's weak spot and is exploiting it to her benefit.
Speaking with guests Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post, conservative commentator Ramesh Ponnuru and CNN correspondent Melanie Zanona, Bash pointed to the column by Guy Trebay that posited that one way to get to the former president was to target his self-regard.
Trebay suggested that the former South Carolina governor's comments about Trump's advanced age and his growing mental decline have hit their mark based on how he has responded.
Bash read from the NYT column and highlighted the closing paragraph where Trebay highlighted claims the attacks were a "cheap shot," but added, "Still, 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?"
That led Dawsey and Ponnuru to start laughing along with the normally staid Bash, who exclaimed, "Jump on! Jump on!"
"Well, former president Trump has gotten frustrated over the years when strong women have attacked him politically. We've seen that over and over again. I don't think that's saying anything," Dawsey offered.
"It's not just the attack it's the source of the attack," Ponnuru interjected.
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"I don't think that's saying anything stunning there," Dawsey continued. "The name also is true. You've seen him do it with names, mispronounce names when he goes up on stage and talks about Barack Hussein Obama, he does that to get the crowd riled up. That's what you're seeing there too. The name is — that's not totally surprising."
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