Nikki Haley fires back at Don Lemon after CNN host claims she’s not in her ‘prime’

‘I wasn’t sitting there saying sexist middle aged CNN anchors need to have mental competency tests,’ she tells Fox News

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has hit back at Don Lemon after the CNN host said that the former South Carolina governor was not “in her prime.”

Ms Haley, who announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for president earlier this week, responded to Mr Lemon’s remarks on Friday on Fox News.

“This is something that I have faced all of my life. It was Don Lemon yesterday, it was Whoopi Goldberg the day before,” she said. “There will be somebody else tomorrow. I have always made the liberals’ heads explode. They can't stand the fact that a minority conservative female would not be on the Democratic side, because they know I pull independents, they know I pull suburban women, they know I pull minorities over to what we are trying to do.”

Ms Haley announced her candidacy earlier this week, making her the first candidate to challenge former president Donald Trump for the nomination in 2024. Prior to that she won two term as governor South Carolina before Mr Trump nominated her to serve as the US ambassador to the United Nations.

Ms Lemon made the remark on CNN’s morning show after Ms Haley, who is 51, said that older politicians should undergo a mental competency test.

“Nikki Haley is not in her prime, sorry,” he said. “When a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s, and 30s, and maybe 40s.”

But Ms Haley defended her proposal.

“I wasn't sitting there saying sexist middle aged CNN anchors need to have mental competency tests, although he may have just proven that point,” she said. “What I was saying is we need to be transparent, those elected officials that are making key decisions for us Americans on national security and keeping our kids safe. And the debt yes, we need to know exactly that.”