Former President Trump said last month that he intentionally confused Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
“So it’s very hard for me to be sarcastic when I interject. I’m not a Nicki fan, I’m not a Pelosi fan. And when I intentionally interject names, they say, ‘He I didn’t know Pelosi from Nikki or Tricky Nikki,” President Trump said Wednesday during a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina.
“When I intervene, they make a fuss about it. I say, ‘No, no, I think they both stink, we both stink.’ Remember this. “For me to say that about Nikki means she will never run for vice president,” he continued.
During a campaign stop in New Hampshire last month, President Trump appeared to confuse Pelosi and Haley when talking about January 6, 2021. Mr. Trump instead blamed Ms. Pelosi, who had repeatedly made baseless claims that she was responsible for security failures at the Capitol that day. Haley instead of Pelosi.
“By the way, they never reported on the Jan. 6 crowd. You know, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, they — they have all the information, all the evidence, everything. You know what, I destroyed it, I deleted it. I destroyed it all. That’s all,” he claimed last month.
“For a variety of reasons…including Nikki Haley being in charge of security, we gave her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guard, whatever they wanted. No. They don’t want to talk about it. They’re very dishonest people,” Trump continued.
The Speaker of the House cannot command the National Guard.
His apparent mix-up drew criticism from Haley and President Biden’s campaign. Haley expressed concerns about whether Trump was mentally fit to serve as president, and the Biden campaign mocked her for the apparent gaffe.
“I don’t agree with Nikki Haley on everything, but I agree with her on this: She’s not Nancy Pelosi,” Biden wrote at the time in a post on Twitter’s predecessor, X. wrote.
Trump’s campaign rally in South Carolina comes weeks before the state’s primary election. Haley remains Trump’s only major challenger and is looking to shore up support in her home state ahead of the primary.
Trump has a nearly 35-point lead over Haley in South Carolina, with an approval rating of nearly 65%, according to The Hill/Decision Desk polling average.
The Hill reached out to Haley and the Trump campaign.
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