Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has claimed that she doesn’t think Joe Biden will ‘make it’ to the end of his second term, should he win re-election to the White House.
Biden announced this week that he’s planning to run for a second term in office, which would take him up to the age of 86.
The 80-year-old president is running to keep his office in 2024, and is already the oldest leader in US history.
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Haley is not expected to win the GOP candidacy but recently announced her candidacy for the White House.
At the minute, only two Republican candidates have thrown their hats into the ring, with former president Donald Trump also in the race.
Haley, an ex-governor of South Carolina and former US ambassador to the United Nations, claimed that those who vote for Biden in the next presidential race will actually be voting for his vice-president Kamala Harris, because she believes that Biden will die before his second term elapses.
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She told Fox News: "He announced that he's running again in 2024, and I think that we can all be very clear and say with a matter of fact that if you vote for Joe Biden, you really are counting on a President Harris, because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely.”
Harris would take over the office if anything were to happen to President Biden, and she was heavily featured in a video this week that announced Biden’s forthcoming bid to retain his office.
The White House gave Haley’s comments short shrift, issuing a statement through Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates that bluntly said: "As you know, we don't directly respond to campaigns from here.
“But honestly, I forgot she was running."
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However, Biden has addressed concerns about his age, calling them ‘totally legitimate’ after some Democratic voters suggested he might be too old to run.
On Wednesday, Biden said: "With regard to age, I can't even say, I guess, how old I am.
“I can't even say the number,
"It doesn't register with me. I took a hard look at it before I decided to run. And I feel good."
In a fairly on-the-nose metaphor, Biden’s campaign video also saw him jogging on a treadmill, quite literally proving his fitness to run.
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All things being well by 2024, we’re likely to see a repeat of the 2020 election fight between Biden and Trump, with the 76-year-old heavy favorite to take the GOP nomination.
Even though Trump is only four years younger than Biden, he has criticised him for his age in the past, suggesting that his faculties are declining, and even nicknaming him 'Sleepy Joe'.
More of the same will certainly follow should both candidates end up playing off against each other again for the biggest job in the USA.
Topics: US News, Politics, Joe Biden, Donald Trump