Former President Donald Trump accused Nikki Haley of being a Democrat on Wednesday, days before a pivotal 2024 primary in the former U.N. ambassador’s home state.
“She’s getting clobbered by the Democrats,” Trump claimed during a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina.
“Even though she probably is one,” he continued. “I think she probably is.”
Trump backed up the accusation that Haley, the last remaining opponent in the 2024 Republican primary, is a Democrat by noting instances of Democratic donors giving to her campaign or affiliated super PACs.
“Nikki has gone so far left because of her Democrat donors,” he told a crowd of supporters. “She’s actually got very little money now because they all gave up because she’s getting like — there was one poll that says she has no chance.”
“The radical-left Democrats want Nikki Haley because they know she’s easy to beat,” he claimed. However, in polls where Biden defeats Haley, he often defeats Trump by a similar margin.
The former president also pointed to the fact that the South Carolina Republican primary is open, as the state doesn’t have party registration. “Nikki Haley is pushing Democrats to vote,” he said. “So if you don’t want liberals and Marxists to meddle in your primary, which they shouldn’t be able to do, then you have to get out and get every patriot you know to come out next week and vote.”
During the rally, Trump also pushed back on perceived gaffes he has made on the campaign trail. He claimed that he’s imitated Biden on occasion, appearing to be lost trying to get off the stage, and that the “fake news” frames it as Trump, himself, having a problem. “These are very dishonest,” he said.
Further, he claimed a recent moment when he seemingly mistook Haley for Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was also purposeful. “It’s very hard to be sarcastic,” he explained. “When I purposely interpose names, they said he didn’t know Pelosi from Nikki.”
Haley has used the apparent slip-ups to question the 77-year-old Trump’s mental fitness for office. Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment but attacked the former president on Wednesday night for attempting to “clean up his mess.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“It’s the same script every time: Donald Trump says something unhinged, faces backlash, and scrambles to clean up his mess with a dirty mop,” said Haley spokeswoman AnnMarie Graham-Barnes. “Seventy percent of Americans don’t want Joe Biden’s forgetfulness or Trump’s perpetual chaos machine.”
Trump is expected to defeat Haley in the South Carolina Republican primary on Feb. 24, with the most recent Winthrop University poll showing him 36 points ahead of her. He posted 65% in the survey of likely primary voters to Haley’s 29%.
