[ad_1]
CNN
—
Former President Donald Trump used a rally in South Carolina on Saturday to attack his rival in his home state, Nikki Haley, and mock her husband’s absence while he is deployed overseas.
“Where is her husband? Oh, he’s gone. … What happened to her husband? Where is he? He’s gone,” Trump said, visiting the state for the first time this year. He spoke at a rally in Conway.
Michael Haley is deployed to Africa with the South Carolina Army National Guard in support of U.S. Africa Command, marking his second active duty deployment overseas.
Nikki Haley hit back at President Trump’s comments late Saturday, saying, “If you make fun of the accomplishments of veterans, you don’t deserve to get a driver’s license, much less 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,” she told a crowd in Gilbert, South Carolina.
In a rare move, Michael Haley fired back at the former president, posting a meme on Twitter that read, “What’s the difference between humans and animals?” “Animals will never allow the stupidest animal to lead the pack,” Trump said in the caption.
Notably, former first lady Melania Trump has not participated in her husband’s public campaign activities since he announced his presidential inauguration in November 2022, and has not accompanied her husband during court appearances. He hasn’t shown up.
After overwhelming victories in his first four presidential nomination contests, Donald Trump is further emboldened by his staying power as the Republican front-runner. The former president and his campaign are more confident than ever that he will win enough delegates to declare him the surefire Republican nominee to defeat former South Carolina Gov. Haley by mid-March. . –Months before the Republican National Convention in July, multiple Trump campaign advisers told CNN.
President Trump’s visit to South Carolina comes on the heels of a busy few days of travel. He appeared in Nevada on Thursday to declare his victory in that state’s Republican caucus before heading to Pennsylvania to address a friendly crowd at a National Rifle Association forum on Friday.
Thursday saw some positive developments for President Trump, with the release of a scathing special counsel report giving President Joe Biden new campaign fodder. Although the report did not recommend charges against Biden, it contained damning language about mishandling classified documents and raised concerns about Biden’s memory and age.
Also on Thursday, the Supreme Court sided with Trump, poised to reject an effort in Colorado to label him an insurrectionist and exclude him from the state’s presidential vote.
Haley maintains that her persistent fundraising skills will keep her in the race through the Feb. 24 primary in her home state, and beyond. But Trump and her team see the Palmetto State primary as the place to deal the final blow to her last major rival.
Part of that confidence stems from Trump’s continued success within the party and in the polls, with Trump consistently leading Haley by a wide margin at the national and state level. It is shown as follows.
This optimism for the remaining 2024 primaries has led the Trump campaign to be less aggressive in the South Carolina primary, especially compared to the intensity of the ground campaign and vote-getting strategy in previous candidate states. I started taking a non-targeted approach.
And unlike the weeks leading up to the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, when Mr. Trump and his campaign relentlessly crisscrossed the state and poured millions of dollars into advertising against his rivals, Mr. Trump’s South Carolina I have a relatively light schedule.
Saturday’s rally in Conway, about 25 miles from Myrtle Beach, was President Trump’s first visit to the state in 77 days. He plans to host several more campaign events in the state before the Feb. 24 primary, but his team is increasingly focused on his impending rematch with Biden in the general election. , has taken a more subdued approach to the election campaign.
Trump’s advisers say that doesn’t mean the president is taking South Carolina for granted.
“At the end of the day, we can’t take any state for granted. But we see this as a done deal,” a senior Trump adviser told CNN, referring specifically to South Carolina. .
The Trump campaign’s ground campaign efforts in South Carolina this year are also significantly more sophisticated than during his first run for president in 2016, advisers say, largely due to senior adviser Susie Wiles. He credits the team he built under his leadership. .
The campaign deployed staff to 46 South Carolina counties, sent mailers promoting Trump’s candidacy, and sent top state lawmakers and surrogates, including Gov. Henry McMaster. former presidential rival Sen. Tim Scott; They were joined by several top members of the state’s congressional delegation to attack Mr. Haley in his backyard.
“Nikki is a total character at this point,” Trump’s South Carolina special projects director, Justin Evans, told CNN. “Nikki represents the brand of Republican Party that Trump opposes. Everything about the George Bush-Karl Rove wing of the party is embodied in Nikki Haley, and what Nikki Haley represents. This is what they want. It is their last gasp, and they know that if they lose this, they will face an almost impossible task of regaining some foothold, not just in this election, but within the party.”
President Trump ramped up his attacks on Haley during a speech on Saturday, calling her “brain dead” and saying the former South Carolina governor would not pass a cognitive test. Her claims came hours after Haley’s campaign conducted a mental competency test during a campaign stop in Newberry, South Carolina. Ms. Haley, 52, questioned Mr. Trump’s mental capacity and called for mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75. Trump is 77 years old and Biden is 81.
“The radical left of the Democratic Party wants Nikki Haley because they know she can be easily defeated,” Trump said Saturday as his lead in the polls narrowed.
These comments reflect the broader view of the Trump campaign, which wants him to become the Republican nominee as soon as possible. According to multiple conversations with President Trump’s advisers, they want to take full advantage of the Republican Party’s infrastructure, including the Republican National Committee, to begin a serious general election battle against Biden. I believe.
Haley doesn’t seem to be affected by the pressure. A day after losing to “any candidate” in her non-binding Nevada primary on Tuesday, she held a fundraiser and rally to reach voters in California, one of the Super Tuesday states she plans to compete in next month. appealed for support for her.
Ms. Haley has insisted both privately and publicly that she has no plans to withdraw from the race anytime soon, and has said she plans to run against Mr. Trump until Super Tuesday, March 5.
The former South Carolina governor has also stepped up his attacks on Trump in recent weeks, attacking Trump’s mental state and lumping him in with Biden as one of two “grumpy old men.” There is.
This article and heading have been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Ebony Davis contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link
