Nikki Haley defends deployed husband Michael after Donald Trump mocked his final 2024 challenger at South Carolina rally where he wondered ‘where is her husband?’
Nikki Haley and her husband, Maj. Michael Haley, both lashed out at X after Donald Trump criticized him for being absent from the campaign trail with her wife while deployed in Africa.
Former President Trump attacked his only remaining rival for the Republican presidential nomination at a rally in her home state of South Carolina on Saturday — specifically targeting her deployed husband.
‘Where is her husband? Oh, he’s gone,” Trump said from Conway, South Carolina. ‘What happened to her husband? Where is he? He is gone.’
Major Haley serves in the South Carolina Army National Guard and is currently deployed to Africa. Meanwhile, his wife, a former UN ambassador. Nikki Haley is participating in the Republican primaries against Trump.
Nikki Haley slammed 2024 contender Donald Trump for having ‘no business being commander in chief’ after he disrespected her husband, who is a National Guard major
‘Where is her husband? Oh, he’s gone,” Trump said at a rally in South Carolina on Saturday. ‘What happened to her husband? Where is he? He is gone.’ Former UN Ambassador. Nikki Haley’s husband, Major Michael Haley (left) is currently deployed to the Horn of Africa
“Michael is being deployed to serve our country, something you know nothing about,” Haley wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in response to a video of Trump’s comments.
“Someone who consistently disrespects the sacrifices of military families has no business being commander in chief,” the 2024 hopeful added.
Major Haley added his own response by tagging Trump and a number of media outlets and networks in an X-post with an image of a wolf with the message: “The difference between humans and animals? Animals would never allow the dumbest to lead the pack.”
It is striking that Trump’s wife and former First Lady Melania Trump was also completely absent from his campaign trail. She has not appeared publicly alongside him since the former president announced his candidacy in 2020.
Trump appeared to refer to reports of Haley’s affairs with two men who were not them, saying at his rally, “He knew it, he knew it.”
DailyMail.com last month revealed new details about the men’s claims about 2008 affairs with Haley, who was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives at the time.
Haley denied both allegations of an affair.
While her husband is deployed as a staff officer with the 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade in the Horn of Africa, the couple’s two children, Rena and Nalin, have gone on campaign missions with their mother.
Trump made several attacks on Nikki Haley at a rally in her home state of South Carolina on Saturday – and called out her husband for not campaigning with her despite being deployed to Africa
Major Haley posted a meme featuring a wolf on his X account with the message: ‘The difference between humans and animals? Animals would never allow the dumbest to lead the pack’
At her own rally Saturday, Haley responded to Trump’s attacks with, “If you mock the service of a combat veteran, you don’t deserve to have a driver’s license, let alone be president of the United States.”
“Donald, if you have something to say, don’t say it behind my back; get on the debate stage and say it to my face,” the former South Carolina governor added.
That same day, Haley posted photos of daughter Rena, 25, and son Nalin, 22, in front of her tour bus in South Carolina.
“It’s hard to become president,” she captioned the post. “It’s even harder to do when I feel like I’m missing my rock, Michael. But I am so grateful and proud to my children that they are part of this with me!’
Rena’s husband Joshua Jackson has also appeared alongside the family at times during the campaign.
At another point during Trump’s rally on Saturday, the former president claimed he only appointed “Tricky Nikki” Haley as his ambassador to the United Nations because he wanted Henry McMaster to replace her as governor in South Carolina.
“She did her job, she was doing well, she was doing well. But I didn’t put her there because I wanted her there at the UN,” Trump said. “I wanted to take your lieutenant governor who’s sitting here and make him governor, that’s what I wanted. And I wanted you to have Peggy as First Lady.”
Trump also claimed that “Birdbrain” Haley came to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida with her husband and vowed never to go against him.
While Major Michael Haley is deployed, the couple’s children, Rena (left) and Nalin (right), have gone on campaign with their mother