Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley on Saturday doubled down on her push for American presidents and lawmakers to take competency tests if they are older than 75 - even suggesting she'd submit to one.

Haley was one of two GOP presidential candidates to address the Palmetto Family Council's Vision '24 National Conservative Forum in North Charleston Saturday afternoon. 

She had announced her presidential run from Charleston in mid-February and proposed 'mandatory mental competency tests' for politicians over the age of 75.

'Joe Biden got upset and said I was being ridiculous when I said that,' Haley commented Saturday. 'I'm not being disrectful when I said that. I don't care if you do mental competency tests for everybody over 50.'

Haley is 51. 

< PREVIOUS SLIDE SLIDE 1 of 3 NEXT SLIDE >

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley on Saturday doubled down on her push for American presidents and lawmakers to take competency tests if they are older than 75 during the Vision '24 National Conservative Forum

© Provided by Daily Mail

'But when you're talking about leaders who are deciding on national security, when you're talking about leaders that are deciding our economy and the futures of our children, you need them to be at the top of our game,' she continued. 

At age 76, former President Donald Trump would also have to sit for a competency test, but Haley has only brought up 80-year-old President Joe Biden by name.

'You can't tell me Joe Biden was the same he was two years ago, he's not,' she told the crowd. 

'Look at everybody else in D.C.,' she said. 'They're all old,' she noted, cuing laughs from the crowd. 

Haley, who served as Trump's U.N. ambassador and before that was South Carolina's governor, has centered her campaign on the fact that she'd represent generational change. 

'We need a new generation of people,' she argued Saturday. 

She'd also be the first female president, if elected. 

Haley, however, continues to struggle in the polls, with the current Real Clear Politics polling average having her at 6.3 percent.

Onstage Saturday, Haley had to endure one question that likely would not have been posed to a man. 

'You are so nice,' the event's moderator said.

He then asked her how she was so effective. 

'When you're born in South Carolina, you learn how to kick with a smile, right?' she answered.