Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) is selling merch poking at CNN’s Don Lemon, who last week commented that the 51-year-old presidential candidate “isn’t in her prime.”
“For all of you who took issue with the haters saying that we are past our prime… this one’s for you,” Haley wrote on Twitter, sharing a WinRed link to contribute to her campaign and order a koozie reading “Past my prime?” and “Hold my beer.”
Lemon got pushback from his co-hosts when he remarked on air that “Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime, sorry. When a woman is considered to be in her prime — in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s” while hosting CNN’s morning program.
Co-host Poppy Harlow countered that “I think you need to put on qualifiers, like ‘prime’ for like child-bearing.”
“Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just saying Google what the facts are — Google it, everyone at home, when is a woman in her prime,” Lemon said. He later called his comments “inartful.”
Lemon’s remarks followed Haley’s suggestion that politicians older than 75 should be subject to mental competency tests, an apparent hit at former President Trump and President Biden, who are both over that threshold.
Haley has pitched herself as a “new generation” candidate, the first high-profile Republican to hop into the 2024 race with Trump, who launched his reelection campaign in November. Biden hasn’t formally announced whether he’ll run for another four years.