Nikki Haley’s son slammed South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott as “Sen. Judas” for endorsing former president Donald Trump.
Nalin Haley addressed supporters during a campaign event in Gilbert, South Carolina, on Saturday ahead of the state’s Republican primary on February 24.
“Senator Judas—excuse me, Senator Scott,” he said of Scott’s endorsement of Trump, according to Washington Post reporter Dylan Wells.
“Nalin, I will deal with you later,” Haley, a former U.N. ambassador, reportedly joked later onstage.
Nikki Haley’s son, Nalin Haley, is kicking off her event in Gilbert tonight.
“Senator Judas — excuse me, Senator Scott,” he says of Tim Scott’s endorsement of Trump. pic.twitter.com/5nXyGgMuzd
— Dylan Wells (@dylanewells) February 10, 2024
Scott’s office responded by saying his family would never “talk like that,” according to Wells.
Newsweek has contacted Haley’s campaign and Scott’s office for further comment via email.
Scott abruptly announced he was ending his presidential campaign in November, before endorsing Trump days before last month’s crucial New Hampshire primary.
It was a blow to Haley, the sole remaining challenger to Trump in the race for the Republican nomination, and viewed by her supporters as a betrayal since she, as South Carolina governor, had appointed Scott to the Senate in 2012.
“South Carolina is a bloodsport,” Haley said about Scott’s endorsement of Trump in January. “Everyone has a decision to make and they have to live with their decision. He’ll have to live with his.”
Grant Baldwin/Getty Images
At Saturday’s event in Gilbert, Haley also hit back at Trump for his mocking comments about her husband.
Trump, the frontrunner in the race for the Republican nomination, on Saturday repeatedly questioned why Haley’s husband, Major Michael Haley, hasn’t been on the campaign trial with her.
“Where’s her husband? Oh, he’s away,” Trump told a crowd in Conway, South Carolina, on Saturday. “He’s away. What happened to her husband? What happened to her husband? Where is he? He’s gone.”
Michael Haley left the United States in June 2023 for a yearlong deployment in Africa as a staff officer with the South Carolina Army National Guard, according to The Associated Press.
“If you mock the service of a combat veteran, you don’t deserve a driver’s license, let alone being president of the United States,” Nikki Haley told supporters in Gilbert.
She earlier responded to Trump’s comments on X, formerly Twitter.
“Michael is deployed serving our country, something you know nothing about,” she wrote. “Someone who continually disrespects the sacrifices of military families has no business being commander-in-chief.”
Trump made the comments about Nikki Haley’s husband even though his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, has been absent from the campaign trail. She has not joined him at a public campaign event since his announcement speech.
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