Haley says Trump’s personal attacks against her means he’s ‘threatened,’ ‘insecure’

Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley brushed off a barrage of personal attacks from former President Trump about her name and heritage Wednesday, saying it’s a sign Trump feels threatened by her in the GOP primary.

Haley was asked at a CNN town hall about recent social media posts from Trump in which he shared a conspiracy theory that Haley was ineligible to run for president and referred to her by her birth name, Nimrata.

The former South Carolina governor, whose parents are from India, noted she was born in Bamberg, S.C., erasing any doubt about her ability to run for the White House.

“And look, the name-calling — I know President Trump well. That’s what he does when he feels threatened. That’s what he does when he feels insecure,” Haley said. “I don’t take these things personally; it doesn’t bother me. I know him very well, and this is what he does. I know that I am a threat; I know that’s why he’s doing that.”

Haley added that she had no plans to “get into the name-calling back with him.”

Trump has ramped up his attacks on Haley in recent days as attention shifts to Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, where polling has shown Haley to be Trump’s closest competitor.

A Decision Desk HQ average of New Hampshire polls shows Trump leading Haley by 10 points in the state.

The former president has bashed Haley for her position on Social Security and immigration but he has also levied racist attacks against her by sharing a birther conspiracy and calling her “Nimrata” and “Nimbra” in social media posts, which critics have said is meant to put the focus on her Indian heritage.

Trump rose to political prominence in part by pushing the false and racist claim that then-President Obama was not born in the United States. During the 2016 GOP primary, he claimed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), one of his rivals at the time, was ineligible for the White House because he was born in Canada.