Nikki Haley, a Republican presidential candidate, has dubbed her adversary Donald Trump “insecure” after he circulated bogus assertions that she is ineligible to be President of the United States.
The former President promoted a “birther” conspiracy theory that questioned her eligibility since her parents were not born in the country.
Ms Haley was born in the United States; hence, she is eligible to run for office.
When asked about the attacks on CNN, Ms Haley responded: “I know President Trump well…”That is what he does when he feels threatened.”
She said, “That’s what he does when he feels insecure.”
Haley Calls Trump Insecure For Spreading False ‘Birther’ Claims
For years, Donald Trump promoted a phoney conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama, who was born in Hawaii, falsified his birth certificate and was born in Kenya.
Ms Haley is Mr Trump’s closest competitor in the next Republican presidential nomination contest. New Hampshire voters will choose their candidate on Tuesday, and while Ms Haley has closed the distance, polling indicates the former President still has a significant lead.
Ms Haley’s popularity in the state has grown, and Mr Trump has increased his attacks on his former UN Ambassador, who was born in South Carolina to Indian immigrants. People born in the United States are eligible for office.
In addition to distributing a story suggesting Ms. Haley cannot run for President, Mr. Trump referred to her by her birth name, Nimarata, calling her “Nikki ‘Nimrada’ Haley” on his social media network, Truth Social. Ms. Haley’s middle name is Nikki.
When asked about the post and article by CNN’s Jake Tapper, Ms Haley stated she was a “proud daughter of Bamberg, South Carolina”.
“I adore my hometown and am glad to be from there. So, that’s the first question; we can disregard that,” she replied.
“I am aware that I am a threat. “I understand why he’s doing that,”
“I am aware that I am a threat. “I understand why he’s doing that,” she added, adding that she would not engage in “name-calling” with him.
When Mr Trump initially published an article questioning Ms Haley’s fitness for office last week, Laurence Tribe, a constitutional expert at Harvard Law School, told NBC that the “birther” assertions were completely false.
“I can’t imagine what Trump hopes to gain by those claims unless it’s to play the race card against the former governor and UN ambassador as a woman of colour – and to draw on the wellsprings of anti-immigrant prejudice by reminding everyone that Haley’s parents weren’t citizens when she was born in the USA,” he said.
When Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade questioned Ms Haley if the Republican Party was racist, she responded with a bigger point: “We’re not a racist country, Brian.” “We’ve never been a racist country,” she explained.
Some critics reacted negatively to her words
Ms Haley stated that she encountered racism growing up but that things had improved. “Are we perfect?” “No,” she added. “But our goal is to always make sure we try and be more perfect every day that we can.”
Some critics reacted negatively to her words, accusing her of forgetting America’s history of slavery and segregation, as well as current racism and prejudice.
A representative for Ms Haley defended the remarks, stating that there is a distinction between acknowledging the existence of racism and labelling the United States a “racist country”.
Despite coming third in last week’s Iowa caucuses behind Mr Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Ms Haley has attempted to depict the fight for the Republican presidential nomination as a two-horse race between herself and the former President.
Experts believe she needs a strong performance in New Hampshire to prove she is a viable candidate as the campaign progresses.
SOURCE – (BBC)
