As the Republican presidential primary field narrows down, former President Donald Trump doubled down on his attacks on fellow candidate Nikki Haley during a Saturday night interview with Fox News host Bret Baier.
Following a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Baier questioned Trump about his recent attacks on Haley’s birth name. While Baier pointed out Haley defended herself by stating that Trump once praised her while she worked for him as the U.N. ambassador, the former president emphasized he has nicknames for “a lot of people.” (RELATED: ‘No Love For Me’: Nikki Haley Responds To Endorsement Snubs From Home State)
“She points back to you praising her, and now she says that you’re using a nickname based on her given name, Nimrata. You called her ‘Nimbra’ in a post the other day. Why do you do that?” Baier asked.
“Well, I do that with a lot of people, like Hutchinson. I mean, he was polling at zero for about one year and I called him — rather than Asa — I called him Ada Hutchinson and it just felt good to me. And with her, it’s just something that came — it’s a little bit of a take-off on her name, you know her name, wherever she may come from — but it’s just a little bit of a take-off,” Trump stated.
Donald Trump explains why he gives his political opposition “nicknames”:
“Some people say I’m very good at that…I have fun with it. To tell you the truth, it’s a very effective tool.” pic.twitter.com/3C8iMyctns
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 21, 2024
Baier interrupted the president, asking him what he meant “by that,” to which Trump recalled another nickname he gave to Democrat Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2018. “What do you mean by that?” Baier questioned. (RELATED: ‘Not Tough Enough’: Trump ‘Probably’ Rules Out Nikki Haley As Running Mate)
“It’s a little bit of a take-off. I look at her name. I look at a lot of people. You know, I do a lot of names for people, like ‘Pocahontas.’ She said, ‘My mother said, ‘I look like an Indian.” So I started calling her ‘Pocahontas.’ Some people say I’m very good at that but I can’t get into too many because many of those people that I named like that are Republicans and we don’t want to bring that up. But no, it’s just, it’s a take-off, I have fun with it. And sometimes, to tell you the truth, it’s a very effective tool,” Trump stated.
Baier also asked the former president about calling Haley a “globalist fool,” emphasizing again Trump’s previous praise for his former U.N. ambassador. Trump claimed he always knew she was a “globalist,” stating the U.S. cannot afford a “globalist” in office due to the current foreign political climate.
“Well, look, she is a globalist — I’ve always known that about her — and our country cannot be globalist. We don’t even have that choice anymore. We owe $35 trillion and we have to take care of ourselves first. But you know, I had no wars going on,” Trump stated.
“We defeated ISIS — I defeated ISIS in a matter of months. They said it would take four or five years; I did it in a few months. And I just took everybody — I was taking everybody out. It was the opposite: I rebuilt the military, but the opposite. And we really had peace through strength in this country.”
Donald Trump slams Nikki Haley, says she wouldn’t be a good president:
“She is a globalist fool.” pic.twitter.com/0cAKrujWUQ
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 21, 2024
“But I got to know everybody and I got to know Nikki very well. Nikki was not a great negotiator. She had certain things that she was good at, but she wouldn’t be good for this job. I can tell you that right now,” Trump stated.
The former president took to Truth Social on Friday, repeatedly referring to Haley as “Nimbra,” and calling the former South Carolina governor “weak.” While Haley’s given birth name is Nimarata Nikki Randhawa, she reportedly has always gone by her middle name and later adopted her surname after marrying in 1996, according to The Hill.
Haley has called the attacks on her birth name as a way of Trump being “insecure,” claiming the former president feels “threatened” as the New Hampshire primary draws closer. The former president currently holds a 17-point lead, according to the most recent poll conducted by Suffolk University, The Boston Globe and NBC10 Boston, who estimated Trump sitting at roughly 53 percent.