On Saturday, former President Donald Trump attacked his Republican competitor Nikki Haley over her husband’s whereabouts on the campaign trail, and she responded by blasting him on social media.
Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador during the Trump administration, is the former president’s only viable Republican contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
According to the Associated Press, Major Michael Haley, the former governor’s spouse, will leave in June 2023 for a year-long deployment in Africa as a staff officer with the South Carolina Army National Guard. He was deployed with the 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, which is supporting operations in the Horn of Africa.
Despite officially stating that her husband is abroad and serving in the military, Nikki Haley has had to deal with unverified claims that she has had many relationships, which began more than a decade ago.
The rumors have handed Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) allies ammunition for a new round of attacks on his rival’s personal life.
While speaking to a gathering of supporters at a “Get Out the Vote” rally in Conway, South Carolina, ahead of the state’s GOP primary on February 24, Trump mentioned Haley’s husband, ridiculing the former governor for her spouse’s absence from the campaign trail.
“Where is her husband?” “Oh, he’s gone,” Trump said. “He’s gone! Whatever happened to her husband? What happened to her husband? Where is he? “He’s gone.”
Haley criticized Trump after posting a video of his statements about her husband on X, formerly Twitter.
“Michael is deployed serving our country, something you know nothing about,” she stated in an email. “Someone who continually disrespects the sacrifices of military families has no business being commander in chief.”
Trump’s dedicated band of MAGA fans initiated the adultery allegations on his GOP competitor last month, spreading rumors that Haley had two separate affairs in the early 2000s. Haley refuted any claims of unfaithfulness to her spouse when the reports first appeared.
While the claims were never verified, and no meaningful new material has emerged, Trump supporters have continued to circulate them, with attacks intensifying as Haley’s popularity grew in the polls.
Trump’s teasing of Haley over her husband’s absence from campaign events comes after months of rumors about Melania Trump’s whereabouts.
Since departing the White House in January 2021, the former first lady has made few public appearances, despite her husband’s bid for a second term. She just attended the funeral of her mother, Amalija Knavs, who died on January 9.
Earlier on Saturday, Haley took aim at Trump and President Joe Biden when her crew administered mental competency tests to guests at a rally in South Carolina.
While Haley is trailing Trump in the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, her staff has stated that she has no plans to withdraw.
She has regularly questioned Trump’s mental capacity during the campaign, claiming that both the MAGA leader and Biden are too old to serve second terms as president.
Furthermore, following her defeat in the New Hampshire primary, Haley invited Trump to confront her personally, stating, “He thinks he’d do better [on a mental test] than me.” Maybe he would, maybe not. But if he believes that, he should have no trouble standing on a debate stage with me.”