Donald Trump mocks Nikki Haley for absence of her military husband; Indian-American hits back

Washington, Feb 11: Former US president Donald Trump has mocked his Republican rival Nikki Haley over the absence of her husband, who is deployed overseas, drawing a sharp reaction from the Indian-American politician who said the person who disrespects military families has no business being commander-in-chief.

Haley's husband Major Michael Haley, a commissioned officer with the South Carolina National Guard, is currently on a year-long deployment with the 218th Manoeuvre Enhancement Bridge, which is providing support in the Horn of Africa. He was deployed in June.

The war of words between two Republican presidential candidates started with a Trump rally on Saturday, in South Carolina where the 77-year-old former president, seemingly unaware of his deployment, started questioning his whereabouts, “Where's her husband? What happened to her husband? He's gone,” Trump said at his rally in Conway, his first visit to the state this year.

Haley, 52, the only candidate against Trump in the Republican Party's nomination race, fired back at Trump's comments later.

“Donald, if you have something to say, don't say it behind my back; get on a debate stage and say it to my face,” she told the crowd.

“I am proud of Michael's service. Every military family knows it's a sacrifice. I have long talked about the fact that we need to have mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75,” she said.

Trump claims he would pass that – maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't, she said.

“But if you mock the service of a combat veteran, you don't deserve a driver's licence, let alone to be the president of the United States,” she said.

“Michael is deployed serving the US country, something you know nothing about. Someone who continually disrespects the sacrifices of military families has no business being commander-in-chief,” Haley said.

Trump's comment on Haley's husband also drew criticism from various quarters.

“Only a sick individual would put down a service member who is deployed. This disrespects every military family in our country. It's exactly the chaos we don't need in America,” said General Don Bolduc (retd).