Nikki Haley trolls Trump over ballot claim: ‘He’s confused again’
Nikki Haley taunted her rival Donald Trump yet again on Thursday, questioning his mental faculties after he claimed she did not qualify for the primary ballot in Indiana.
“Nikki Haley is not on the Ballot in Indiana because she didn’t get enough Petition Signatures – She missed the deadline! If she’s not on in Indiana, she’s not a serious Candidate,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“Looks like Donald Trump is confused again,” Ms Haley replied in a post on X. “Another reason why he’s too afraid to debate me.”
Indiana’s filing deadline to appear on a presidential primary ballot is 9 February. Therefore, Ms Haley cannot have missed the deadline at this time.
The Haley campaign has indicated they have collected all necessary signatures and will appear on the ballot.
“We’ll be on the ballot,” a spokesperson for the Haley campaign told Politico. “We turned in more than double all the signatures required and they are being verified now as part of the process before the filing deadline on February 9.”
The Indiana primary is set to take place on 7 May, toward the end of the primary season.
Mr Trump has already beaten Ms Haley in primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire, and has since stepped up pressure on his rival to drop out of the race, labelling her as an “imposter” who is still “hanging around” despite her losses.
Last week, Mr Trump threatened to permanently ban any donors to Ms Haley’s campaign from the “Maga camp”.
But the former president’s threats have so far been unsuccessful, with the former US ambassador the United Nations vowing to stay in the race.
“This race is far from over,” she said last week, before trolling Mr Trump, and announcing that she is now selling T-shirts with “Barred. Permanently”. emblazoned across them.
“Enough said… Grab your shirt here!” Ms Haley said in a post on X, along with a link to buy a T-shirt.
“I will not be intimidated,” she added. “This isn’t a coronation. This is an election. I have always been the underdog and I have always fought back. I’m not stopping now! Chip in and let’s do this!”
However, Ms Haley’s defiance could be short-lived, with billionaire donors to her campaign rumoured to have closed their wallets following her failure to win the New Hampshire primary.
Reid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn, who gave a six-figure sum to Ms Haley’s campaign, is one such donor who is rumoured to have pulled out, according to multiple reports.
Nonetheless, Ms Haley is continuing to ramp up her attacks against Mr Trump. This week, her campaign launched a new series of attack ads titled “Grumpy Old Men”, criticising both Mr Trump and 81-year-old President Biden as showing signs of cognitive decline.
Mr Trump, who appeared to confuse Ms Haley with Nancy Pelosi in a speech last month, insisted over the weekend that he feels “sharper now than I did 20 years ago”.
Recent polling by Quinnipiac University has suggested Ms Haley would currently beat President Biden if she was the GOP nominee and competed against him in a general election.
