Former US president Donald Trump on Saturday questioned why the husband of Republican rival Nikki Haley was not on the campaign trail, drawing sharp responses from the former UN ambassador and her husband, who is abroad on a National Guard mission.
“What happened to her husband?” Trump told a crowd in Conway, South Carolina, as he and Haley held events across the state ahead of its Feb. 24 Republican primary. “Where is he? He’s gone. He knew. He knew.”
Haley responded in a post on X: “Michael is deployed serving our country, something you know nothing about.”
Photo: Reuters
It is the latest example of Trump disparaging his opponents based on their US military service, going back to his questioning of whether the late US senator John McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was a hero, because Trump liked “people who weren’t captured.”
Throughout his political career, Trump has been accused of disregarding longstanding norms on avoiding attacking current or past servicemembers or people in a politician’s family.
Michael Haley began a yearlong stint in June last year with the South Carolina Army National Guard. He is being deployed as a staff officer with the 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, which the National Guard says is providing support in the Horn of Africa.
Shortly after Trump’s comments, Michael Haley posted a meme on his own X account with a picture of a wolf and the text: “The difference between humans and animals? Animals would never allow the dumbest ones to lead the pack.” Nikki Haley’s campaign confirmed the account belonged to her husband.
Trump has said he avoided service in the Vietnam War through student and medical deferments. His wife, former first lady Melania Trump, has been absent from the campaign trail and has not appeared with him at a public campaign event since his announcement speech.
Nikki Haley has pushed Trump to debate her, as she seeks to change the trajectory of the race after the former president and heavy front-runner won the first three primary states. She again challenged him at a campaign stop on Saturday night.
“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,” she told a crowd.
Nikki Haley’s surrogates also wasted no time addressing Saturday’s comments.
“When you start talking about a veteran serving overseas, I don’t care if you know them or not, that should make your heart sick,” said South Carolina Representative Chris Wooten, who introduced Haley at an evening rally.
Nikki Haley expressed pride in her husband’s service, adding that every military spouse knows military careers are a “family sacrifice.”
As she has frequently done in speeches over the past year, she recounted her husband’s difficulty readjusting to life after his deployment to Afghanistan. He could not tolerate loud noises and could not stand crowds, she said.
People like her husband make such sacrifices “because they still believe in this amazing experiment that is America,” she said.
“If they’re willing to sacrifice for us, shouldn’t we be willing to fight for America here? Because we have a country to save,” she said, closing out her speech.
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