Nikki Haley Blasts Trump for Claiming to Be 'Victim' After Lawsuit Losses

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has denounced former President Donald Trump for playing the "victim" after recently losing two civil lawsuits.

Haley, who is trailing Trump by a wide margin for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, made the remarks during a campaign stop in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday night—hours before the Lone Star State will hold its presidential primaries on Super Tuesday.

"There were a couple more court cases and a couple more judgments, and now he's been talking about being a victim," Haley said. "At no point is he ever talking about the American people ... All he's doing is talking about himself."

The Context

The Super Tuesday contests held in Texas, alongside 14 other states and the territory of American Samoa, will decide over one-third of the delegates required for both the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations.

While Trump and President Joe Biden are the overwhelming favorites for their respective nominations, Haley has presented a far stronger challenge for Trump than any primary challenged faced by the incumbent Democrat.

Regardless, Haley has only won one of the GOP primaries, notching a small but symbolic victory over the ex-president in the District of Columbia on Sunday. She is not favored to win in Texas, or in any of the contests that have yet to take place.

Haley, former South Carolina governor who also served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, is the last major Republican challenger to the former president. She has increasingly gone on the attack as primary season has progressed.

Trump was found civilly liable for business fraud in New York earlier this year, while also recently losing two defamation and sexual abuse lawsuits brought by former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll. He has been ordered to pay more than $540 million as a result.

The former president has repeatedly claimed to be the victim of political "persecution" and a "witch hunt" by Democrats, while launching appeals of cases he has lost. He is also facing 91 felony counts across four separate criminal cases.

What We Know

Haley said during her speech on Monday that Trump "became completely unhinged" after he won the New Hampshire Republican primary but gave up 43 percent of the vote to her. She then noted that Trump had declared anyone who donated to her campaign be "permanently barred from the MAGA camp," drawing cheers from the crowd.

The former governor went on to criticize Trump for demanding to be declared the presumptive GOP presidential nominee before saying that her opposition to the ex-president was "not personal" and denouncing his claims of being a victim.

"And then there were a couple more court cases and a couple more judgments, and now he's been talking about being a victim," said Haley. "You should understand this is not personal for me. I voted for Donald Trump twice, I was proud to serve America in his administration."

"The reason this bothers me is whether it was the night of New Hampshire or whether it was after those court cases, at no point is he ever talking about the American people," she continued. "All he's doing is talking about himself. And the thing is, this isn't about him, this is about the American people."

Views

Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump's office via email on Monday night.

Trump, who often refers to Haley as "birdbrain," claimed in a Truth Social post after losing to Haley on Sunday night that he "purposely stayed away from the D.C. Vote because it is the 'Swamp,' with very few delegates, and no upside."

"Birdbrain spent all of her time, money and effort there," Trump wrote. "Over the weekend we won Missouri, Idaho, and Michigan—BIG NUMBERS—Complete destruction of a very weak opponent. The really big numbers will come on Super Tuesday. Also, WAY UP ON CROOKED JOE!"

Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said that it was "not surprising that Republicans closest to Washington dysfunction are rejecting Donald Trump and all his chaos" following the former governor's win.

What's Next?

While Trump is expected to win on Super Tuesday, the earliest that he could clinch the GOP nomination is March 12, according to the Associated Press. If Haley pulls off any upsets on Tuesday, the former president's status as presumptive nominee could be delayed.

Haley's path to winning the Republican nomination is extremely narrow and would require what seems like a very unlikely shift in the GOP electorate. States that she has lost include her home state of South Carolina.

However, the former governor has repeatedly insisted that she has no intentions of dropping out of the race, saying after losing in South Carolina that she did not "have to win" and only needed "to be competitive" to remain a candidate.