Former President Trump on Tuesday falsely claimed that former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley won every Republican presidential primary, even though she beat Trump in two elections earlier this year.
Asked in an interview with Newsmax about the possibility of choosing Haley as his running mate, Trump initially avoided the question, instead falsely claiming that he had a perfect record in voting in this year’s primary elections.
“With Nicki, I was very disappointed in her because she hung on too long. And remember, I beat her in her state, I beat her badly everywhere,” Trump said in an interview on Tuesday. Mediaite highlights“You know, I set a record in the primary. People, you know, don’t like to talk about it, but if it was anyone other than me, they’d say, ‘Wow, what a great job.’
“We won a record number of primaries. We beat her by a record number of votes in South Carolina when she was governor. If you look at the numbers we got, it’s unbelievable,” he added.
Trump won Haley’s home state by nearly 20 points, but she defeated the former president by a 29-point margin in Washington, DC, and also won Vermont by five points.
The comments drew comparisons to Trump’s repeated false claims about the 2020 election, which still resonate among some factions of the Republican Party. Trump is facing two criminal charges for allegedly trying to overturn President Biden’s victory.
Haley dropped out of the Republican presidential primary in March after a series of disappointing losses, but she has still garnered tens of thousands of primary votes over the past few months. In several states, she has been approaching or exceeding 20 percent of the vote, numbers that political observers say highlight clear Republican dissatisfaction with Trump as the party’s presumptive nominee.
After weeks of speculation, Haley said she would vote for Trump over Biden this fall, citing the need for border security, capitalism, freedom and debt reduction.
Trump said last month that Haley was “not under consideration” for the vice presidential position and that he “wishes her the best,” but suggested she could join his team “in some capacity” if he is re-elected.
The Hill has reached out to Haley’s spokesperson for further comment.
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