OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Whoopi Goldberg, the host of the BAC talk show “The View,” jumped on the Don Lemon bandwagon attacking Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s age, but Haley struck back.
On Monday’s show, Goldberg played a clip of Nikki Haley, 50, calling for a new generation of leadership as she seeks to compete with the 80-year-old President Joe Biden. A rather large gap between their ages. But Goldberg, 67, said that because of her age, Haley should not make that argument.
“You’re not a new generation. You’re 51. What are you talking about?” the host said as the audience cheered.
“It’s not a new generation. She may be younger than most of those people, but her rhetoric is the same. She’s saying the same B.S. I love the young kid, but the only way you get younger people to run, dude, is if you’re out there talking to people saying ‘run’. We’re not going to vote for people who don’t have our best interests at heart,” the comedian said.
“I’m sick of people talking about age. If you can do the job, I don’t care about the age. You can be as old as dirt if you’re getting stuff done for America. That’s how I feel. If you get a lot of young people put in there, you’re still going to have to sit at the feet of older people because you don’t know as much. You think you do, and relax. Relax. You think you’re going to live forever, you’re not,” the host said.
“It’s not my fault young people are not running. I’m asking folks to run. It’s up to the young folks who are there to say, listen, come do what I’m trying to do,” she said.
“You’re 51!” Whoopi Goldberg blasts Nikki Haley for calling herself part of a “new generation”. (Video: The View, ABC) pic.twitter.com/czxkgJUS5u
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) February 20, 2023
On the Fox News show “The Story,” Haley swiped back at Lemon and Goldberg.’
“It’s not new,” Haley said. “This happened when I ran for governor. I’ve had this all my life. When I was first elected governor, there were some minority Democrats that said ‘she’s not a minority, she’s just a conservative with a tan.’ They will come at me with everything. But none of that fazes me,” she said to anchor Martha MacCallum.
“If my age is all they have, it means we’re winning,” the candidate said. “I’m okay with that.”
And she spoke about the fact that Vice President Kamala Harris was praised for being a minority woman but for her, it is not the same.
“The problem is, it’s just the hypocrisy of all of it. If Republicans said this about a Democrat candidate, they would have lost their minds,” she said. “Everybody would have been asking for everybody to be fired. It would have been all of this. So … this is one more example of how hypocritical the liberals are. They’re very quick to judge. They’re very quick to throw stones. But when it comes back at them, they act like we’re the ones that are bad. I think they’re really showing themselves for what they are.”
Last week, Lemon apologized for making “inartful” comments about Haley’s age.
Lemon did not do the show on Friday but did take to Twitter to offer up a mea culpa of sorts after Thursday’s broadcast.
“The reference I made to a woman’s ‘prime’ this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it. A woman’s age doesn’t define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day,” he noted.
The reference I made to a woman’s “prime” this morning was inartful and irrelevant, as colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it. A woman’s age doesn't define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day.
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) February 16, 2023
That came after Lemon spoke on the morning show panel, which consists of Kaitlan Collins, who Lemon reportedly feuded with last week, and Poppy Harlow, was talking about the former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor making age an issue during the 2024 campaign, likely a swipe at the ages of both President Joe Biden — who, at 80, struggles at times to communicate — and former President Donald Trump, who is 76.
Lemon said that Haley should not focus on people being in their “prime” because she is not in her “prime” as a woman in her 50s (she is 51).
“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 in their prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,” he said before Harlow interrupted.
“What are you talking — Wait…,” she said.
“That’s not according to me,” Lemon responded.
“Prime for what?” Harlow said.
“It depends. It’s just like, prime. If you look it up. If you Google when is a woman in her prime, it’ll say 20s, 30s, 40s,” Lemon said.
“Forties! Oh my God, I have another decade,” Harlow said.
“I’m not saying I agree with that. So I think she has to be careful about saying that, you know, politicians are in their prime,” lemon said, stumbling as he backtracked.
“Are you talking about prime for, like, childbearing? Or are you talking about prime for being president?” Harlow pressed.
Don Lemon: "Nikki Haley isn’t in her prime. Sorry, when a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s, and 30s, and maybe 40s…"
Poppy Harlow: "Are you talking about prime for like child bearing?"
"Don’t shoot the messenger! I’m just saying what the facts are! Google it!" pic.twitter.com/n1HmtkWTpl
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 16, 2023
“Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just saying what the facts are. 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 careful about saying that politics are not in their prime, and they need to be in their prime when they serve. She would not be in her prime according to Google or whatever it is,” Lemon said.
