(WASHINGTON) — Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is addressing former President Donald Trump’s mocking jabs at her husband, Maj. Michael Haley, who is serving a one-year deployment overseas in the South Carolina National Guard.
In a new interview with ABC News’ co-anchor Eva Pilgrim, Nikki Haley discussed the comments about her husband from the former president, suggesting they were offensive to military families across the country.
“It’s not personal for me and Michael; we can handle that,” Haley told Pilgrim on Wednesday. “It’s personal when you think of military families. They go through a lot. They don’t complain.”
Haley’s husband, who was deployed last year to Africa, was recently targeted by Trump, who seemingly implied during a campaign event in Conway, South Carolina, earlier this month that he is in Africa to get away.
“What happened to her husband? What happened to her husband? Where is he? He’s gone. He knew. He knew,” Trump said then.
He later doubled down on singling out Haley’s husband, saying, “I think he should come back home to help save her dying campaign.”
“And so, for someone to mock or make light of that, it cuts deep no matter what because military families, military spouses and their kids go through so much during this deployment,” Nikki Haley told Pilgrim on Wednesday. “Don’t make light of that.”
In her interview, Haley also reflected on her 26-year marriage to her husband.
“I’ve never done anything without him, we met when I was 17 … he’s all I ever known,” Haley said. “He’s the last person I think about when I go to bed because safety is front of mind. But also, I’m just grateful for him and so many other men and women who believe our country is worth fighting for.”
Having now run a presidential campaign for a year, Haley said that it has not been easy on her family but they understand the “sacrifice.”
“Our kids know we’re a family of service. They’ve watched their dad get deployed before. They’ve watched me run for office before, and they know this is all about sacrifice and service,” she said. “And so, I’m incredibly proud of Michael [and] I’m incredibly proud of the kids and how they continue to just stay humble and true to themselves.”
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