New York
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has called the online chatter of her having an affair with President Donald Trump are “highly offensive” and “disgusting”.
The rumours were sparked by “Fire and Fury” writer Michael Wolff, who hinted on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” last week that he was “absolutely sure” Trump is having an affair. Wolff in his book wrote that 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.”
Haley said these rumours were typical of the challenges faced by successful women who manage to work their way up to positions of power.“It is absolutely not true,”‘ Haley said in an interview for POLITICO’s Women Rule podcast.
Ms Haley was the governor of South Carolina during the 2016 campaign, and was reluctant to throw her support behind Mr Trump’s campaign. At one point, Ms Haley said that she was “not a fan” of Mr Trump, prompting the then-candidate to claim that her constituents were “embarrassed” by her.
The former governor was already seen as a rising star in the Republican Party when she later joined the Trump administration, and had been picked by the party to deliver the yearly rebuke to President Barack Obama in 2016.