Former President Donald Trump defended mocking Nikki Haley’s birth name as “Nimbra” in an interview with Fox News.

Speaking with Fox News anchor Bret Baier, Trump stood by post on Truth Social Friday in which he referred to the former South Carolina governor as “Nimbra.” (Her birth name is Nimarata Nikki Randhawa.)

“She says that you’re using a nickname based on her given name, Nimirata,” Baier said. “You called her Nimbra in the post the other day. Why do you do that?”

“I do that with a lot of people like [former Arkansas governor Asa] Hutchinson,” Trump replied. “I mean, he was polling at zero for about one year and I called him — rather than Asa — I called him Ada Hutchinson. And it just felt good to me. And with her, it’s just something that came. It’s a little bit of a takeoff on her name. You know, her name, wherever she may come from.”

Critics denounced the attack on Haley as racist — comparing it to the birther rhetoric he used against former President Barack Obama. Trump himself compared it to his attack on Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) — whom he referred to as “Pocahontas.”

“I do a lot of names for people — like Pocahontas,” Trump said. “She said, ‘my mother said I look like an Indian.’ So I started calling her Pocahontas. Some people say I’m very good at that. But I can’t get into too many because many of those people that I named like that are Republicans, and we don’t want to bring that up. But it’s a takeoff. I have fun with it. And sometimes, to tell you the truth, it’s a very effective tool.”

Watch above, via Fox News.

The post Trump Defends Calling Nikki Haley ‘Nimbra’ in Interview With Fox’s Bret Baier: A ‘Takeoff’ On Her Name, ‘Wherever She May Come From’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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