Former President Donald Trump and his campaign are mocking rival Nikki Haley as queen of ‘the swamp’ after she finally seized a primary win in Washington, DC’s primary but faces an onslaught on Super Tuesday.
Trump himself has toggled between ridiculing and trying to ignore Haley, his last remaining primary challenger, as he has scored a string of wins and amassed more and more delegates. But Haley’s criticisms of the distant front-runner have sharpened ever since she decided to stay in the race after losing her home state.
On Sunday night, his campaign sought to keep up the pressure, after Haley scored a symbolic win in the nation’s capital, winning 63 per cent of the vote. Her campaign noted that Haley became the first woman to capture a GOP primary.
‘Tonight’s results in Washington D.C. reaffirm the object of President Trump’s campaign — he will drain the swamp and put America first. While Nikki has been soundly rejected throughout the rest of America, she was just crowned Queen of the Swamp by the lobbyists and DC insiders that want to protect the failed status quo,’ said Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitte.
‘The swamp has claimed their queen,’ she posted on X.
The former South Carolina governor made a stop at the Madison Hotel Friday afternoon after polls opened in a plea for the district’s few Republicans to back her over Trump
Haley’s campaign called it an ‘iron lady weekend,’ although she faces long odds when 15 states vote on Tuesday. She announced a Louisiana leadership team Monday, but has not announced any travel plans for later in the week.
Trump himself tore into on Truth Social after her win.
‘I 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. 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!’ Trump wrote.
He also got back to the insult he has tried to attach to Haley. ‘Birdbrain is a loser, record low performance in virtually every State. DeSanctus easily beat her in Iowa for a VERY DISTANT second place, and then she ran up to the podium, before he had a chance to do so, and claimed victory. I enjoy watching the Bird disavow her PLEDGE to the RNC and her statement that she would NEVER run against President Trump (“A great President”). Well, she ran, she lied, and she LOST BIG!’
It came in a weekend where at a Rally Trump showed little interest in trying to bring over a faction of the party he has ripped as ‘RINOs.’
The Trump campaign diminished Haley’s win after the front runner cruised to a series of victories and vowed: ‘We’re getting rid of the Romney’s of the world,’
Thousands of voters from 15 states will head to the polls for what has been known since the 1970s as ‘Super Tuesday’
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt called Haley ‘Queen of the Swamp’
‘We’re getting rid of the Romney’s of the world,’ Trump said of the GOP’s 2012 nominee.
Haley, in an appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ Sunday, indicated she doesn’t feel bound by an earlier debate pledge to back the eventual winner.
‘No, I think I’ll make what decision I want to make,’ Haley said, also noting ‘the RNC is now not the same RNC.’
She continues to avoid getting pinned down on how long she’ll stay in the race.
‘Well, first, let’s see what happens on Super Tuesday. I don’t like to look at what ifs or hypotheticals. I think we always have to live in the moment,’ she said.
Asked if she was prepared to stay in the race to the Republican National Convention in July, Haley responded: ‘If the people want to see me go forward, they’ll show it. They’ll show it in their votes. They’ll show it in their donations. They’ll show it in the fact that they want us to continue to go forward,’ Haley said.
Her win in the nation’s capital came from enough voters to fill a high school stadium – or an upscale downtown hotel like D.C.’s Madison.
Just 2,035 voters participated in the D.C. primary.
The D.C. Republican Party reported Haley won 62 percent compared to Trump’s 33 percent with only 2,035 voters participating. That makes Haley the first Republican woman to ever win a primary in U.S. history.
The result in D.C. comes one day after Trump’s clean sweep of GOP primaries in Idaho, Michigan and Missouri.
At stake were 19 Republican delegates out of 2,429 total at the convention.