Nikki Haley, a Republican running for president, charged that former President Donald Trump made fun of the United States Armed Forces and claimed that this was the reason why there was a lack of military recruiting in the country.
Haley responded to Trump’s criticism on her husband, Major Michael Haley, by saying that he was attacked while he was in Africa on a year-long assignment with the South Carolina Army National Guard.
At a campaign event on Saturday, the former president made fun of Haley’s husband’s absence by asking fans, “What happened to her husband?”
Haley stated that her husband was “angry” at Trump’s remarks in an interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Monday.
She went on to say that “he and his brothers and sisters, they don’t go there just because for kicks and giggles, they go there because they still believe in this amazing experiment that is America.”
“They’re willing to go and sacrifice their lives and their families because they still believe America is worth fighting for,” Haley said. And when others make fun of it or make fun of it, it does cause them to wonder, “What’s going on with America? And that’s a really depressing situation.
“If you want to see why recruitment is down in the military…it’s because of comments like that,” she stated. “It’s because of how America has treated our veterans.”
Trump has already been charged with making disparaging remarks about US service veterans.
This past October, John Kelly, his former chief of staff, made an exclusive statement to CNN claiming that Trump had labeled veterans and members of the armed forces “losers” and “suckers” because “there is nothing in it for them.” Kelly’s claims were rejected by the former president, who referred to him as the “dumbest of my Military people.”
After Trump’s remarks this past weekend, many people have also defended the Haleys. “Below the belt shot,” according to Republican campaign consultant Scott Jennings, who also referred to the former president as a “a******.” On X, previously Twitter, on Sunday, President Joe Biden also made a post on the remarks made by Trump. He said, “We know he thinks our troops are’suckers,’ but this guy wouldn’t know service to his country if it slapped him in the face.”
During her appearance on CNN on Monday, Haley stated, “If you’re going to go and criticize a combat veteran, you criticize one veteran, you’re criticizing all of them.”
For many years, there has been a decrease in military recruiting. Since 1987, the number of active-duty members of the US Armed Forces has decreased by 39%. In 2023, the Army and Air Force failed to attract 10,000 recruits each, while the Navy fell short by 6,000.
During a December 2023 press conference, Pentagon Spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder discussed the low recruitment numbers. However, he also stated that the services are attempting to adjust to the challenges, one way being through “very active and creative in looking at how we can communicate with the public that we serve.”
