Republican presidential candidate Haley joked about Trump’s age and mental capacity on the TV show “Saturday Night Live.”

United States Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley made a surprise appearance on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and took a swipe at former President Donald Trump over his age, mental fitness and refusal to debate her.

Haley appeared in a segment set at a fake CNN town hall in Columbia, South Carolina, where a fake Trump – played by cast member James Austin Johnson – was asked questions by an audience member.

The former South Carolina governor has been campaigning ahead of her home state’s Republican primary on February 24 to narrow the gap to Trump in the polls. Last month, Trump secured a decisive victory New Hampshire Elementary Schoolbeat rival Haley by a significant margin.

In the sketch, Haley was introduced as “someone who describes herself as a concerned voter from South Carolina” when she was asked to question the candidate.

“My question is, why aren’t you debating Nikki Haley?” she asked.

Trump, the leading candidate for the nomination, has avoided all debates so far in the election campaign.

“Oh my God, that’s her, the woman who was in charge of security on January 6th. It’s Nancy Pelosi,” the actor who plays Trump replied, referring to the day in 2021 when Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.

During a campaign speech in New Hampshire in January, Trump repeatedly appeared to confuse Haley, who was his ambassador to the United Nations, with former Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Trump has accused Pelosi of rejecting security measures offered by his administration, but a special House committee investigating the siege found no evidence to support that claim.

After town hall moderators corrected Deputy Trump, Haley asked, “Are you OK, Donald?” You may need a mental competency test.”

The Trump actor responded to Haley: “You know what I did. I took the test and passed it, okay? Perfect result. They said I was 100 percent crazy.”

The former president has boasted in the past that he aced cognitive tests.

A later joke about the movie “The Sixth Sense” prompted the actor who played Trump to say, “I see dead people.”

Haley replied, “That’s what voters will say when they see you and Joe.” [Biden] on the ballot.”

She later posted on X: “Had a lot of fun on SNL tonight! I know it’s already past Donald’s bedtime, so I’m looking forward to the stream of unhinged tweets in the morning.”

“I see dead people.” That’s exactly what voters will think if there is a race between Trump and Biden in the fall.

Had a lot of fun on SNL tonight! I know it’s already past Donald’s bedtime, so I’m looking forward to the stream of unhinged tweets in the morning pic.twitter.com/W43LlPOoi2

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 4, 2024

Haley has positioned herself as a younger, more capable alternative to Trump and the Democratic front-runner, President Joe Biden, as well as the only anti-Trump Republican in the race.

But if Trump wins in South Carolina, where Haley served two terms as governor, she will likely face growing pressure to abandon the race.

The final question in the skit came from SNL host Ayo Edebiri, who asked Haley, now referred to as Ambassador, about the root cause of the US Civil War.

The candidate was asked about the reason for the war during a December town hall meeting in New Hampshire She did not mention slavery in her answer. She walked back her comments hours later.

“I was just curious, what do you think was the root cause of the civil war?” asked Edebiri. “Do you think it starts with an ‘S’ and ends with a ‘Lavery’?”

Haley replied, “Yeah, I probably should have said that the first time.”