Nikki Haley let loose on Donald Trump after the embattled ex-prez appeared to hint that her deployed husband had left her following her decision to run in the 2024 election.
While speaking at a South Carolina rally this past weekend, Trump mocked Haley, repeatedly asking the crowd, "What happened to her husband?"
"She comes over to see me at Mar-A-Lago. ‘Sir, I will never run against you,'" the controversial politician said at the time. "She brought her husband. Where’s her husband? Oh, he’s away. He’s away. What happened to her husband? What happened to her husband?! Where is he?! He’s gone. He knew. He knew."
Haley's husband, who has been married to the former governor of South Carolina since 1996, is currently on a National Guard deployment to Africa. It's been reported he voluntarily deployed in June 2023.
Haley responded to the comments at her own speaking engagement in Lexington, S.C., on Saturday, February 10.
"Donald Trump had a rally today and in that rally, he mocked my husband's military service," she explained to her audience. "I will say this Donald. If you have something to say, don't say it behind my back, get on a debate stage and say it to my face."
"I have long talked about the fact that we need to have mental competency tests for anyone over the age of 75," she said. "Donald Trump claims that he would pass that. Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't. But if you mock the service of a combat veteran, you don't deserve a driver's license, let alone being president of the United States."
During a recent sit-down on CNN’s State of the Union, Haley once again addressed the situation, calling Trump's jeering remarks "disgusting."
"I mean, every bit of it’s disgusting, you know, to sit there and mock my husband for not being with me on the presidential trail because he is deployed and serving our country," she said. "You mock one veteran, you’re mocking all veterans."
"But this is a pattern ... He’s done this over and over again," she continued, referencing Trump's history of appearing unsupportive of servicemembers.
"Whether he went and called military members suckers, whether he was at Arlington Cemetery saying what was in it for them, why would they do this?" she added. "The problem with Trump is he’s never been anywhere near a uniform."
This weekend, Major Michael Haley also spoke out against Trump's insults on X, formerly known as Twitter, tagging Trump alongside a photo that read: "The difference between humans and animals? Animals would never allow the dumbest ones to lead the pack."
