Sarah Matthews, an ex-staffer of former President Trump, donated to Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s campaign Wednesday, despite Trump’s recent warning against doing so.
“Done,” Matthews wrote on X, formerly Twitter, alongside a link to donate to the former South Carolina governor’s campaign. “Join me in donating to @NikkiHaley here.”
Her pledge follows Trump’s push to bar Haley donors from joining “the MAGA camp,” a movement centered on his 2016 campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.”
“When I ran for Office and won, I noticed that the losing Candidate’s ‘Donors’ would immediately come to me, and want to ‘help out.’ This is standard in Politics, but no longer with me,” Trump wrote in a social media post Wednesday.
“Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp,” he added, using his nickname for Haley. “We don’t want them, and will not accept them, because we Put America First, and ALWAYS WILL!”
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Matthews served as the deputy press secretary in Trump’s White House from June 2020 to Jan. 2021, before resigning over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
She has since been critical of the former president, suggesting she may back President Biden in the general election if Trump is the GOP nominee to “put policy aside and choose democracy.” Matthews was also one of the former White House staff members who testified to the House select committee investigating the insurrection.
Trump’s effort to dissuade voters from supporting Haley came just one day after he won the New Hampshire primary, leading by about 11 percentage points, according to election results from Decision Desk HQ.
He also took aim at Kayleigh McEnany, who served as press secretary under the Trump administration, for attempting to offer him advice on how to unite the Republican Party during a Fox News segment earlier this week.
“I don’t need any advice from RINO Kayleigh McEnany on Fox,” he said on Truth Social. “Just had a GIANT VICTORY over a badly failing candidate, ‘Birdbrain,’ and she’s telling me what I can do better.”
“Save your advice for Nikki!” he added.