Trump is now the oldest candidate ever. And Haley's prophecy weighs on him

Joe Biden's farewell was expected, almost taken for granted given the pressure he had been under for weeks. Yet Donald Trump was nonetheless taken aback by the surprise announcement on X - Elon Musk's platform, now in full campaign mode for the former president - by which he suddenly became the oldest White House candidate in history. After months spent in the spotlight on Biden for being too old for a second term, it is now The Donald's turn to convince voters that he is capable of governing the country despite being 78 years old.

Not an easy task, and one over which hovers the spectre of the prophecy of Nikki Haley who in January, when she was still running in the Republican primaries, said: 'Most Americans do not want a new confrontation between Biden and Trump. The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate will win the election." Words that have gone viral on social media since yesterday, just as the liberal media continue to recall in these hours the donations - a total of $6,000 - made by Trump in favour of Harris in 2011 and 2013, when the current vice-president was running for attorney general of California. Perhaps because he was impressed by the manner in which he communicated, perhaps because he was beginning to hope that the president would hold out, perhaps because he did not expect such a strong and rapid shower of endorsements for Kamala Harris, Trump reacted nervously to Biden's withdrawal glimpsing a campaign suddenly on the upswing when he felt victory was already in the bag.

The former president first attacked Harris - 'he is worse than Biden' -, then unleashed the threat of 'fraud' lawsuits against the Democrats. The Republicans 'should be reimbursed for their election expenses so far' since 'now we have to start over', thundered the tycoon, demanding that the next presidential debate scheduled for September should not be on ABC, as previously agreed with Biden, but on Fox, a network that is more friendly to him. Trump is nevertheless preparing to launch vicious attacks on Harris, an expression in his past as a prosecutor of the judicial system that convicted him of porn star money.

The tycoon is aware that his rival could set his campaign precisely on the idea of the prosecutor against the convict. A prospect that the former president intends to avoid at all costs with the help of his deputy J.D. Vance, a law graduate from the prestigious Yale University and with a lawyer wife.

After debuting at rallies on Saturday in Michigan with his boss, Vance is expected to make his first solo public outing since being nominated. And his tones on X after Biden's withdrawal suggest its tenor. 'Trump and I are ready to save America, whatever the Democratic ticket,' he said after the Dem leader stepped down. Shortly before the announcement he had raised questions about the president's possible justifications for completing his term while withdrawing from the White House race. "If you can't run, you can't even serve the presidency. He should resign immediately," he had argued, riding the line of Republicans who, united, are preparing to give battle over simply replacing Biden with Harris in every state. "Every state has its own system and in many it is not possible to simply change the candidate," warned House Speaker Mike Johnson. Conservatives, however, have their guns drawn since Biden was not yet officially the Democratic nominee when he withdrew. This, however, will not deter them from pursuing all avenues to stop Kamala, who has become their worst nightmare within hours.