Trump returns to birther conspiracy theories in new attacks on Haley

Former President Trump promoted a false conspiracy theory questioning 2024 rival Nikki Haley’s eligibility to serve as president in a social media post as he escalates his attacks on his former United Nations ambassador.

Trump on Monday reposted a report from the right-wing website The Gateway Pundit that suggested Haley was not a U.S. citizen because her parents, who immigrated from India, were not citizens at the time of her birth.

But Haley was born in the U.S. in 1972, and as a result is a U.S. citizen who is eligible to run for president.

While Trump did not add any commentary to the post, it is not the first time he has tried to sow doubt about the legitimacy of a political opponent’s right to serve in the White House.

Trump rose to political prominence in part by pushing the false and racist claim that then-President Obama was not born in the United States. During the 2016 GOP primary, he claimed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), one of his rivals at the time, was ineligible for the White House because he was born in Canada.

Haley’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

The Trump post comes as the former president and his campaign have ratcheted up their attacks on Haley as the former South Carolina governor and Trump Cabinet official rises in primary polls.

Haley has emerged as perhaps Trump’s most significant threat to him sweeping the early primary states, particularly in New Hampshire. She still trails him by wide margins in Iowa polls and national surveys of the primary field, but she has pulled within single digits of Trump in the Granite State, according to polling averages from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.

Trump has gone after Haley at recent rallies, and his campaign has issued numerous press releases attacking her on immigration, China and her position on the gas tax while she served as governor. A Trump-aligned super PAC also launched an ad this week attacking Haley on border policy.

With the Iowa caucuses just days away, the former president is set to participate in a Fox News town hall event Wednesday night, while Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) take part in a debate hosted by CNN at the same time.

Trump himself is facing questions over whether he is eligible to be on primary ballots. Colorado and Maine have removed him from the ballot under a clause in the 14th Amendment that prohibits someone from holding “any office … under the United States” if they “engaged in insurrection” after taking an oath to support the Constitution.

More than two dozen challenges to his ballot eligibility have been filed across the country, citing Trump’s actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.