US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has trashed rumours that she was having an affair with President Donald Trump, terming the allegation “highly offensive” and “disgusting”.
The rumors were set off by Michael Wolff, the controversial author of an explosive book on the Trump White House, by dropping hints in an interview on HBO that the President was having an affair with someone mentioned in his book.
An online speculation began that Wolff may be implying Haley, apparently based on a sentence from his book, claiming: “The president had been spending a notable amount of private time with Haley on Air Force One and was seen to be grooming her for a national political future.”
“It is absolutely not true,” the 46-year-old Indian-American envoy and former South Carolina Governor said in an interview with Politico’s Women Rule podcast, condemning Wolff’s insinuation and pointing out that his facts are all wrong.
Haley said she has been on Air Force One just once last July travelling from Washington to long Island, adding “there were several people in the room when I was there”.
“He (Wolff) says that I’ve been talking a lot with the president in the Oval about my political future. I’ve never talked once to the president about my future and I am never alone with him,” Haley said.
She went on to point to “a bigger issue that we need to always be conscious of: At every point in my life, I’ve noticed that if you speak your mind and you’re strong about it and you say what you believe, there is a small percentage of people that resent that and the way they deal with it is to try and throw arrows, lies or not.”
Politico said that in the course of the interview, Haley not only swatted down Wolff’s allegations, but recalled that she has faced similar accusations of extramarital relationship during her campaign for South Carolina Governor, something she attributed to resentment among a small minority of men.
“I saw this as a legislator. I saw this when I was governor. I see it now. I see them do it to other women,” she said. “And the thing is, when women work, they prioritize, they focus, and they believe if you’re gonna to something, do it right. Others see that as either too ambitious or stepping out of line.”
“And the truth is, we need to continue to do our job and if that means they consider it stepping out of line, fine. And if that means they’re gonna throw stones, people see lies for what it is,” she remarked, adding: “Do I like itIJ No. Is it rightIJ No. Is it gonna slow me downIJ Not at all. Every time this has happened, it only makes me fight harder. And I do it for the sake of other women that are behind me because they should never think that they have to put their head down and cower out of fear that somebody’s gonna do something to you.”