Former South Carolina Governor and 2024 GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley criticized former President Donald Trump for getting "confused again" after he accused journalist E. Jean Carroll—with whom he is currently embroiled in a second federal civil trial concerning her sexual assault allegations against him—of "running for office" in a bizarre rant.
Earlier, Trump claimed he doesn't "know who this woman is" or "where she came from" and falsely asserted that Carroll was planted by "Democrat operatives" and "running for office":
"This is another scam and a political witch hunt and somehow we are going to have to fight this. We cannot let our country go into this abyss."
"This is disgraceful: You have somebody running for office. You have a woman that's financed, and lied about it, she totally lied about it, by Democrat operatives, just the biggest one there is, and she said it wasn't true."
"They found out that she lied about it and the judge I guess wasn't even letting it be put in as evidence. The whole thing is a scam and it's a shame and it's a disgrace to our country."
You can hear what Trump said in the video below.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Haley responded to Trump's strange and baseless claim and pointed out that he appeared to be referring to her—who he definitely knows considering they're actively campaigning against each other—instead of Carroll:
"Wait a second, did Trump just say the person suing him is 'running for office?' Is he confused again? I was not in a New York City courtroom yesterday, any more than I was in charge of security at the Capitol on January 6."
"I was in South Carolina meeting with voters. They’d like to see a debate between me and Trump."
You can see her post below.
Haley's remarks come mere days after Trump challenged her to an "aptitude test" after she questioned his cognitive function.
Haley, who in the past has called for presidential candidates over the age of 75 to pass cognitive assessments—Trump is 77—said Trump is “not as sharp” as he “used to be" after he appeared to mix her up with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi during a campaign event in New Hampshire last week.
Trump had blamed Haley for not providing security during the insurrection of January 6, 2021, the day a mob of his followers attacked the United States Capitol on the false premise the 2020 general election had been stolen. He has previously leveled those same attacks at Pelosi but nonetheless attacked Haley, his former United Nations Ambassador who left the Trump administration in 2018—and wasn't even at the Capitol that day.
Many have echoed Haley's criticisms.
Last year Trump was found liable for sexually assaulting Carroll following a jury trial yet still denies the accusation.
Prior to the release of her book, What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal, Carroll wrote in New York that Trump had sexually assaulted her in the fall of 1995 or the spring of 1996 in the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York City.
Carroll sued Trump under the Adult Survivors Act, a New York state law "that creates a one-time, one-year look back window for adult sexual assault survivors who are outside the statute of limitations," according to Safe Horizon, the largest victim services nonprofit organization in the United States.
In May 2023, a Manhattan jury ruled Trump was responsible for the sexual abuse and defamation of Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages. While numerous women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct in the past, this case stands out as the only allegation affirmed by a jury.
This trial focuses on additional statements made by Trump during his presidency; his legal team argued that Carroll's fame had only increased as a result of the allegations and dismissed her claims as attributing a few negative tweets to him.
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