Trump claims he deliberately confused Haley and Pelosi: ‘It’s very hard to be sarcastic’

Donald Trump has tried to claim that he intentionally confused Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi during a rally address last month when he falsely stated that his rival for the Republican presidential nomination had been in charge of Capitol security in Washington, DC, on 6 January 2021, rather than the then-House speaker.

The former president made the original blunder in New Hampshire on 19 January ahead of that state’s GOP primary – which he nevertheless went on to win – wrongly telling the crowd during an anecdote about the Capitol riot: “Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guard, whatever they want. They turned it down.”

The gaffe came a day after Mr Trump had confused Joe Biden with Barack Obama and prompted Ms Haley, whom he has nicknamed “Birdbrain”, to question his mental wellbeing, given that she was not even in DC that day, let alone responsible for its policing.

The mistake also provided an ironic counterpoint to the candidate’s repeated attacks on President Biden, whom he has derided as too old to run for the White House again at 81, even though Mr Trump himself is only four years younger.

But speaking at another rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday evening ahead of that state’s upcoming primary, Mr Trump insisted he had not made an error at all.

Rather, he claimed, he had knowingly mixed-up Ms Haley and Ms Pelosi so as to underline his contempt for both women, complaining about the subsequent adverse press coverage he received by observing bitterly: “It’s very hard to be sarcastic.”

He continued: “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.

“They