No doubt sensing that Ron DeSantis was going to give up and call to vote for Trump in the Republican primary, Nikki Haley began to hit hard on her rival.
The former South Carolina governor accused him of being "obsessed" with dictators and too old to rule the United States again.
Saturday at the end of a campaign meeting in Peterborough, New Hampshire, where we vote on Tuesday for the 2nd round of the primary, the former United States ambassador to the UN addressed the journalists.
She highlighted Trump's relationships with men such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. His campaign team made an advertising screen - a practice completely permitted in the United States - United - to be broadcast in New Hampshire.
It features the mother of Otto Warmbier, who died in 2017 after being detained in North Korea.
Haley accused Trump of writing “love letters” to Kim after the student was repatriated.
“He’s obsessed with these dictators,” she said.
“When you have to deal with the pressure of the presidency, you can't have someone who you wonder if he's mentally capable of doing it,” she said earlier.
“I'm not saying it's like Joe Biden, but what I'm saying is: Are we really going to have two octogenarians running for president?
Do we really want to see them throwing names and making mistakes at 80 years old, when they have to deal with Putin and Xi and Kim?
», pretended to question the 52-year-old candidate on Fox News, neglecting the fact that Trump is currently only 77.
Trump targets his first name
Until now, Nikki Haley had avoided harsh attacks against her former boss.
But after placing third in Iowa, the Republican needs every argument to stay in the race.
And all the more so since Ron DeSantis, who came second, ended his campaign on Sunday, aligning himself with Trump's immense popularity among Republican voters.
Ahead of South Carolina next month, Haley's home state, New Hampshire has a more moderate Republicanism with a semi-open primary that can attract more centrist voters, who might be turned off by Trump's four criminal cases.
If one of these cases or the Supreme Court invalidates her candidacy, Haley would remain alone in the running for the nomination.
And a good result in the primary would give him credibility against the Democrats.
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Until then, Haley refuses to consider a ticket with Trump.
On Friday, she ruled out becoming his vice-presidential running mate.
The former president did not spare his attacks, in particular by once again targeting his first name or his birthright to American citizenship.
Haley, the daughter of two Indian immigrants, was born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa, but long used her middle name Nikki and later took her husband's last name.