After securing a record-setting win in Iowa caucuses, former President Donald Trump launched multiple attacks on his Republican primary rival Nikki Haley in an attempt to show that he is the best GOP candidate to beat incumbent President Joe Biden. In his latest attack on Haley, Trump compared her to Hillary Clinton for her name changes and posted a photo of Haley's face on the former Secretary of State's body.
On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump shared an image from the Indian-American's campaign, but imposed Haley's face on the body of Clinton, who was his 2016 challenger.
The attacks come amid speculation that Haley is Trump's main rival for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 – rather than Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who finished a distant second in Iowa on Monday. It is anticipated that the January 23 primary in New Hampshire will be a closer contest between Haley and Trump, with some polls showing that ex-South Carolina Governor has reduced Trump's lead to just single digits.
On Tuesday, Haley, who has declared that the primary is now just between her and Trump, refused to participate in the next Republican presidential debate, stating she would not appear on stage unless Trump takes part.
{{/usCountry}}On Tuesday, Haley, who has declared that the primary is now just between her and Trump, refused to participate in the next Republican presidential debate, stating she would not appear on stage unless Trump takes part.
{{/usCountry}}“We’ve had five great debates in this campaign,” Haley said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). “Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it.”
‘Any one listening to Nimrada’: Trump targets Haley over Indian name
In another post on Truth Social, Trump misspelled Haley's Indian name 'Nimarata Nikki Randhawa', which was given to her at the time of birth.
"Anyone listening to Nikki 'Nimrada' Haley's wacked out speech last night, would think that she won the Iowa Primary. She didn't, and she couldn't even beat a very flawed Ron DeSanctimonious, who's out of money, and out of hope," the Republican frontrunner wrote.
Earlier, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out of White race after finishing fourth in the Iowa primary, also targetted the former UN ambassador over her birth name. In 2018, Haley addressed the same on a social media platform.
"Nikki is my name on my birth certificate. I married a Haley. I was born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa and married Michael Haley," Haley wrote.
Clinton has faced similar criticism over using her maiden name, "Rodham," and other times for not doing so.
Trump ridiculed Clinton for not using her maiden name anymore during the 2016 presidential election, and later nicknamed her "Hillary Rotten Clinton."