Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump bashed South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Wednesday, hours after she admitted that parts of her State of the Union rebuttal were directed at him.
Appearing on “MSNBC Live,” Trump told host Thomas Roberts that Haley is “very, very weak” on immigration, an issue he realizes the two differ on politically, adding that the governor was a bigger fan of him when he was a “giver of contributions”
“Well, what I’d say to her is I’m leading in South Carolina by a lot in all of the polls and people agree with me. I’m very strong on illegal immigration. She’s weak on illegal immigration,” Trump said. “I mean, she’s very, very weak on it and it’s a problem. She’s big on amnesty but very weak on illegal immigration, and therefore we have a disagreement.”
“She comes up to my office when she wants campaign contributions, and I’ve given her tremendous contributions over the years. But I guess now that I’m running she doesn’t like me as much,” Trump said. “She liked me better as a giver of contributions than she does when I’m not.”
Earlier Wednesday, Haley told “TODAY” show host Matt Lauer that Trump is one of the “angriest voices” in the party that has contributed to “irresponsible talk.”
Trump also dismissed any idea that he has made an enemy of her ahead of the South Carolina primary, which could prove crucial for the real estate mogul if he loses either early contest in Iowa or New Hampshire.
“No, I don’t worry about that. The people in South Carolina — I know them very well. I’ve been there all the time. I’m going there a lot, I have a lot scheduled … it’s one of my strongest states,” Trump said.
“I don’t know her attitude. I haven’t spoken to her in quite a while, but she’s a very nice woman — a very good woman. But I disagree with her politically, and obviously she disagrees with me politically on immigration,” Trump continued. “She’s just very weak on the subject, and that’s something that doesn’t play very well with me.”
The back-and-forth comes a day before Trump is set to take center stage in Charleston, S.C., at Thursday’s Republican debate.
