Nikki Haley urges need for younger political leadership in the wake of NH primary
By Sam Lawrence, WEBN Reporter
Former President Donald Trump claimed victory in the New Hampshire primaries, garnering just under 55% of the vote, with former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley trailing behind him at 43.2%. With many Republican voters urging her to concede, Haley made it clear that she has no plans of withdrawing from the race at this time, saying “Our fight is not over, because we have a country to save.”
In her speech last night, Haley reaffirmed her belief that all politicians above the age of seventy-five should be required to take a mental competency test stating, “Trump claims he could do better than me in one of those tests…If he thinks that, then he should have no problem standing on a debate stage with me.”
As the possibility of a Biden-Trump rematch looms, Haley’s concerns over the elderly status of both candidates have become all the more relevant and voters share those concerns. “I don’t want more old people telling me what to do,” says Nolan Teeding, a New York high school student visiting the primaries with his AP Government class. When asked about Haley’s proposed competency tests, Teeding said, “I think it’d be funny to see how all of these guys would fare. It might reveal something.”
Adults supporting Haley share similar sentiments. “We need a human being who is from this century, perhaps,” says Eric Bahr, a New Hampshire native. “I have not been able to vote for a mainstream presidential candidate in eight years, and I’m sick of it.”
If Haley drops out in the coming weeks, voters like Bahr are prepared to vote for a third candidate. “I will not vote for Joe Biden and I will not vote for Donald Trump,” stated Bahr. “That’s not how that works.”
At the end of her speech, Haley expressed hope that the upcoming South Carolinian primary would end differently than that of New Hampshire stating, “South Carolina voters don’t want a coronation, they want an election. And we’re gonna give them one.”
WEBN Political Pulse Producer Sofia Mendes contributed to this article.