With President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign officially in full swing, one Republican presidential candidate is the latest conservative to use the commander-in-chief’s age to try to plant fear over the prospects of Kamala Harris ascending to the presidency before a second term would be completed.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley suggested that anybody casting ballots for Biden to be re-elected is “counting on” Harris to become president because of concerns over his age.

“If you vote for Joe Biden, you really are counting on a President Harris,” Haley told Fox News during an interview on Wednesday. “Because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old” — the age Biden would be at the end of a second term — “is not something that I think is likely.”

here’s Nikki Haley on Fox News saying she doesn’t think it’s “likely” Biden lives to 86 years old pic.twitter.com/LU481pe4Hi

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 26, 2023

Haley’s morbid prediction came one day after Harris gave what Politico described as a triumphant “off the cuff” speech at Howard University where she forcefully condemned the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and doubled down on the Biden administration’s commitment to reproductive justice, which has become a leading political issue.

“These extremist so-called leaders would dare to tell us what is in our own best interest. Well I say, I trust the women of America. I trust the people of America,” Harris told the audience at her HBCU alma mater. “So don’t get in our way because if you do, we’re going to stand up, we’re going to organize and we’re going to speak up and we’re going to say we’re not having that, we’re not playing that!”

Harris’ address came one day after Haley delivered her own speech on reproductive rights in front of an anti-abortion group in Virginia. Haley, possibly feeling upstaged by Harris on the issue, then went to Fox News to predict Biden’s death in the next few years.

Coincidence? You just can’t make this stuff up.

As far as Biden’s age goes, the 80-year-old has repeatedly dismissed concerns about how it affects his job performance.

When asked again about his age on Wednesday, Biden told reporters that “it doesn’t register with me,” suggesting it doesn’t factor in anything he does and expressed confidence in the American people that in 2020 already elected him as the oldest president in history.

President Biden dismisses concerns over his age as he gears up for his 2024 reelection run:

“I took a hard look at it before I decided to run… I feel good and I feel excited about the prospects.” pic.twitter.com/M6ALE3UXma

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 26, 2023

Beneath the surface, it’s unclear if Republicans are politicizing Biden’s age because they’re actually concerned about it for their stated reasons or because they know Harris would become president if anything were to happen to him.

Harris, 58, already the first woman and Black person to be vice president, would carry the same distinction with her to the presidency.

Biden not only announced his intention to seek re-election on Monday, but he also did so with a video in which Harris was heavily featured, likely inspiring [more] fear in Republicans that she is being positioned to become president.

Wow. This new Biden ad announcing his re-election campaign is really good. pic.twitter.com/ztIoVOZtiH

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) April 25, 2023

Enter Nikki Haley.

This is America.

SEE ALSO:

Read Kamala Harris’ Moving Speech From Cape Coast Castle, Ghana’s Historic Slave Trading Post

VP Harris Gives Howard University’s Basketball Team Motivational Speech After NCAA Tournament Loss