‘Who the hell was that imposter?’: Trump blasts sole Republican rival Nikki Haley for ‘hanging around’ after defeat

24 January 2024, 07:13 | Updated: 24 January 2024, 09:10

Donald Trump has hit out at his only remaining opponent in the Republican presidential race after sweeping victory in the New Hampshire primary.

It is the second win for Mr Trump in consecutive weeks after he outpaced Ron DeSantis in Iowa and now Nikki Haley in New Hampshire.

In his victory speech on Tuesday evening, the former US president blasted Ms Haley as an ‘imposter’ who’s still ‘hanging around’ despite coming third in the Iowa primary last week.

He told his crowd of supporters: “I can say to everybody ‘thank you for the victories, it’s wonderful’ or I can go up and say ‘who the hell was the imposter that went up on the stage before and claimed a victory?’ she did very poorly actually.

“This is not your typical victory speech but let’s not have somebody take a victory when she had a very bad night.

“I felt I should do this because I find in life you can’t let people get away with bulls***. Ok, you can’t, you just can’t do it."

Mr Trump was disappointed despite the victory because "he wants to win everything and he wants to do it ‘huge', Scottie Nell Hughes, a US political commentator told LBC's Nick Ferrari.

"And I think that’s why he's a little disappointed, and that’s why he’s a bit more snippy than he might have been".

His remarks came after Ms Haley vowed to continue in the Republican race for presidential nominee.

Ms Nell Hughes said she thought that Ms Haley had decided never to run for political office ever again. "Therefore, you know what, she might as well keep going as long as she’s got the funds in the bank."

Mr Trump continued: “Now when I watched her in the fancy dress, that probably wasn’t so fancy, come up, I said ‘what’s she doing? We won’. And she did the same thing last week.

“But Ron beat her also, you know, Ron came in second and he left. She came in third and she’s still hanging around.”

Read more: Donald Trump storms to victory in New Hampshire primary: What happens next?

Read more: Donald Trump wins Republican presidential primary in New Hampshire but sole opponent vows to stay in the race

The former president also hit out at his remaining rival repeatedly on his social media platform, Truth.

He wrote: “Could somebody please explain to Nikki Haley that she lost - and lost really badly. She also lost Iowa, BIG, last week.”

He also said: “A very bad night for Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley, but not as bad as last week, in Iowa, where she came in a DISTANT THIRD.”

No Republican candidate in history has ever won the first two states and not secured the party's presidential nomination.

Ms Haley congratulated Mr Trump on his victory, telling a crowd in New Hampshire: “He earned it. And I want to acknowledge that.”

She went on to say: “New Hampshire is first in the nation, it is not last in the nation.

"This race is far from over. There are dozens of states still to go."

Mr Trump labelled her comments "delusional".

The former president's path to victory in New Hampshire appeared clear from the start after his number one rival, Ron DeSantis, dropped out of the race over the weekend.

His last remaining rival in the race, Ms Haley, needed a strong performance to keep her hopes alive but as expected, Mr Trump sailed to victory.

Ms Haley previously insisted she will not quit to pave the way for a Trump Coronation, vowing to carry it out even after tonight's defeat.

Mr Trump previously told reporters on Tuesday "I don't care" if Ms Haley stays in the race, adding "let her do whatever she wants" - but those close to the former president would have preferred her to drop out so efforts can turn to the November election.

Instead, Mr Trump and his campaign team will have to spend the next three weeks with their focus on the South Carolina primary.

South Carolina is Ms Haley's home state, where she served two terms as governor.