On Thursday, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley responded to “sexist” remarks made by CNN host Don Lemon who suggested that the 2024 presidential candidate was past her “prime” and that discussions of age and competency for politicians made him “uncomfortable.”
The discussion was prompted by Haley’s speech to announce she would be running for president in which she suggested that 80-year-old President Joe Biden and perhaps former President Donald Trump, who is 76, may not be fit to run due to their age and suggested a mandatory competency test for politicians ages 75 and older.
“In the America I see, the permanent politician will finally retire,” Haley said as she formally announced her run for president from Charleston, South Carolina. “We’ll have term limits for Congress and mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over 75 years old.”
Lemon, 56, took issue with Haley’s suggestion, saying, “This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable. I think it’s the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians are suddenly not in their prime. Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry, when a woman is considered to be in her prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.”
The comment prompted significant pushback from his CNN co-hosts. Later in the day, Haley tweeted a clip of the video along with a commentary of her own.
“Liberals can’t stand the idea of having competency tests for older politicians to make sure they can do the job,” tweeted Haley, 51, adding, “BTW it’s always the liberals who are the most sexist.”
In the newsroom, Lemon’s co-host Poppy Harlow questioned what he meant by “prime,” prompting Lemon to cast the definition on Google.
“It depends, just like ‘prime,’ if you look it up. If you Google it, when is a woman in her prime, it’ll say 20s, 30s and 40s,” Lemon responded. “I’m not saying I agree with that. I think she has to be careful about saying that, you know, politicians are in their prime.”
Harlow, however, continued, asking if Lemon was referring to “prime for child bearing” or “prime for being president.”
“Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just saying what the facts are,” Lemon said, “Google it. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime? It says 20s, 30s and 40s. I’m just saying, Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that politicians are not in their prime, and that they need to be in their prime when they serve, because she wouldn’t be in her prime according to Google or whatever it is.”
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