ExplainerHow Donald Trump deploys his oft-used playbook against women who bother him. For now, it’s Nikki Haley
- Here’s a look at Trump’s approach to women he sees as obstacles and the latest reactions in the 2024 campaign
- His playbook centres on intimidation, combined with a now-familiar brand of vulgarity, nicknames and other insults
Hillary Clinton. Nancy Pelosi. Kamala Harris. Liz Cheney. Carly Fiorina. And for now, Nikki Haley.
The former South Carolina governor is the latest in a long line of women – historically some of Republican Donald Trump’s most stubborn challengers – for whom the former president saves a special playbook.
Trump’s nickname for Haley, a Republican who served as his own ambassador to the United Nations, is “Birdbrain”.
“Who the hell was the impostor?” Trump railed after the New Hampshire primary against Haley, who acknowledged his victory but has refused to drop out of the Republican presidential nomination fight. “When I watched her in the fancy dress that probably wasn’t so fancy, I said: ‘What’s she doing? We won’.”
Haley, who lost in Iowa and New Hampshire but has vowed to stay in the race through her home state’s first-in-the-South Republican primary February 24, shot back that Trump threw a “tantrum” because he feels threatened.
“It’s not just that he’s running against Nikki Haley,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Centre for American Women and Politics at Rutgers. “It’s because she’s even deigning to challenge him … He goes after women for their appearance, for their gender.”