Donald Trump on Wednesday offered an explanation for his mix-up last month of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, at a New Hampshire rally: he did it on purpose. The former president claimed at a South Carolina rally Wednesday night he actually intended to "interpose" the women's names during the Jan. 6 gaffe, HuffPost reports.
“It’s very hard to be sarcastic when I interpose," Trump told the crowd. "I’m not a Nikki fan and I’m not a Pelosi fan. And when I purposely interpose names they said, ‘He didn’t know Pelosi from Nikki from tricky Nikki, tricky Dicky."
“I interpose and they make a big deal out of it," the former president continued. "I said, ‘No, no, I think they both stink, they have something in common, they both stink.’ And remember this, when I make a statement like that about Nikki that means she will never be running for vice president.”
Trump's comments came over a month after he said Haley was the person "in charge of security" during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Even with the name mix-up, the House Speaker does not have the power to direct the National Guard and doesn't head the Capitol's security, HuffPost notes.
Critics mocked the former president online, with some leaping to point out that he also incorrectly used "interpose" in his excuse. "Tell me you don't know what the word 'interpose' means without telling me you don't know what the word 'interpose' means (Then do the phrase 'support hose')," political commentator and sportscaster Keith Olbermann said on X/Twitter. "Not only is Trump losing it, he assumes his audience is too," tweeted Eric Columbus, a former congressional lawyer for Pelosi and the Jan. 6 Committee.
Trump: It’s very hard to be sarcastic. When I interpose— I’m not a Nikki fan and I’m not a Pelosi fan. When I purposely interpose names, they say he didn’t know Pelosi from Nikki. pic.twitter.com/UFjnRq4Qg6
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 15, 2024
