Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo, Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images, Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Protect Our Care
- Donald Trump appeared to mix up Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi during a rally speech.
- He blamed Haley for security lapses on January 6, despite Haley having no official role at the time.
- The latest gaffe comes amid increased speculation about Trump's cognitive abilities.
Former President Donald Trump appeared to mix up former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley in a rambling rally speech.
Trump was speaking about the crowd size at his Concord, New Hampshire rally on Friday when he claimed that the press does not report on Haley's smaller crowds.
He then switched to the Capitol riot and bizarrely blamed Haley for security lapses on the day.
"By the way, they never report the crowd on January 6. You know Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, you know, they — do you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it. All of it, because of lots of things," Trump said.
"Like Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guards, whatever they want. They turned it down. They don't want to talk about that. These are very dishonest people."
As he made the blunder, the crowd appeared to go silent.
President Joe Biden's campaign wasted no time jabbing Trump on X for the name-jumble.
"A deeply confused Trump confuses Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley multiple times: Nikki Haley was in charge on January 6. They don't want to talk about that."
A deeply confused Trump confuses Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley multiple times: Nikki Haley was in charge on January 6. They don’t want to talk about that pic.twitter.com/f3lhWgAzUw
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) January 20, 2024
Trump was referencing his long-debunked claim that he requested 10,000 National Guard troops to secure the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
He falsely claimed that Pelosi, who was House Speaker then, declined the offer — a claim with no evidence.
By 2021, Haley had stepped down from her position as ambassador to the United Nations and did not have an active political role at the time of the Capitol riot.
Trump's latest comments come amid increasing speculation about his cognitive abilities.
He has repeatedly mixed up President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama on the campaign trail.
He mostly recently made the mix-up while speaking to Fox News on Thursday night, when he spoke about Obama as if he was still in office.
Trump defended the gaffes in November, claiming he would "sarcastically insert the name Obama for Biden as an indication that others may actually be having a very big influence in running our Country" in a post on Truth Social.
He went on to claim he had recently "ACED" a cognitive test.
Trump has ramped up his criticisms of former South Carolina Gov. Haley as the primary race heats up.
Haley, meanwhile, has been sharpening her focus on Trump's age, stating this week: "The majority of Americans think that having two 80-year-olds running for president is not what they want."