Rivals say Biden, Trump too old to lead

Rivals say Biden, Trump too old to lead

PETERBOROUGH/MANCHESTER/NASHUA, New Hampshire—Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley accused rival Donald Trump of being “obsessed” with dictators and too old to lead, in a final campaign stretch in New Hampshire on Saturday, ahead of Tuesday’s nominating contest.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden’s challenger Dean Phillips, a wealthy congressman from Minnesota, also criticized Biden as weak and unelectable on Saturday as he tried to take advantage of the reelectionist President’s absence from New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary.

Trump, 77, ramped up his attacks and targeted Haley’s Indian heritage, as the former United Nations ambassador sought to blunt the former US president’s momentum following his victory last Monday in the Iowa caucuses.

New Hampshire boasts a more moderate brand of Republicanism with a semi-open primary that can attract more centrist voters, who may be turned off by Trump’s four criminal cases, authoritarian language and efforts to overturn his 2020 reelection loss to Biden.

Haley spoke to reporters following an event in Peterborough and emphasized Trump’s relationships with strongmen such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

Her campaign released a TV ad featuring the mother of Otto Warmbier, who died in 2017 after being held in North Korea. Haley accused Trump of writing “love letters” to Kim after Warmbier was recovered. “He is obsessed with these dictators,” she said of her former boss.

One of two remaining candidates challenging Trump for the Republican nomination, Haley needs a strong showing after placing third narrowly behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Iowa, the first stop in the state-by-state battle to determine the party’s choice.

Race, age

The second Republican contest could help Haley build support as a viable alternative to Trump—or close her already-narrow path to the nomination even before reaching the contest next month in her home

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