Former US president Donald Trump has used his social media platform to mock his political rival Nikki Haley’s birth name.
In a post on his Truth Social account, Mr Trump repeatedly referred to Haley, the daughter of immigrants from India, as “Nimbra”.
Ms Haley, the former South Carolina governor, was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, as Nimarata Nikki Randhawa.
She has always gone by her middle name, Nikki, and took the surname Haley upon her marriage in 1996.
Mr Trump, himself the son, grandson and twice the husband of immigrants, called Ms Haley “Nimbra” three times in the post, and declared that she “doesn’t have what it takes”.
The attack comes four days before the New Hampshire primary, in which Ms Haley is trying to establish herself as the only viable alternative to Mr Trump in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination.
Mr Trump’s post was an escalation of recent attacks in which he referenced Ms Haley’s given first name – though he has misspelled it “Nimrada” – and falsely asserted she is ineligible for the presidency because her parents were not US citizens when she was born in 1972.
I have a different style and approach from Joe Biden and Donald Trump. No drama. No vendettas. No whining. Just results. pic.twitter.com/llqGBFhi4c
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 16, 2024
The attacks echo Mr Trump’s “birther” rhetoric against former president Barack Obama.
Mr Trump spent years pushing the conspiracy theory that the nation’s first black president was born in Kenya and not a “natural-born” US citizen, as required by the US constitution.
That effort was part of Mr Trump’s rise among Republicans’ most culturally conservative base ahead of his 2016 election that surprised much of the American political establishment.
Ms Haley has dismissed Mr Trump’s latest attacks as proof that she threatens his bid for a third consecutive nomination.
If Mr Trump is successful in his bid for the Republican nomination, this would mean a rematch with Joe Biden in the US presidential election later this year.
When asked about Mr Trump’s false assertions that her heritage disqualifies her from the Oval Office, Ms Haley told reporters in New Hampshire on Friday: “I’ll let people decide what he means by his attacks.
“What we know is, look, he’s clearly insecure if he goes and does these temper tantrums, if he’s spending millions of dollars on TV.
“He’s insecure, he knows that something’s wrong.”
Mr Trump’s campaign did not reply to an inquiry about his comments.
Since Monday’s Iowa caucuses – which Mr Trump won by 30 points over Ron DeSantis – Ms Haley has aimed to portray the rest of the Republican primary battle as a two-way race between Mr Trump and herself, despite her narrow third-place finish.
Ms Haley’s campaign is aiming for a stronger showing in New Hampshire, hoping for a springboard into her home state South Carolina, which holds the US south’s first presidential primary next month.
For his part, Mr Trump bounces between declarations that the nominating fight is already effectively over and blasting Ms Haley as if the two are indeed locked in a tight contest.
Mr Trump still criticises his other remaining rival, DeSantis, but his preferred pejoratives for the Florida governor, “Ron DeSanctimonious” or “Ron DeSanctus,” have nothing to do with race or ethnicity. Mr DeSantis is white.
The former president’s focus on Ms Haley’s name comes as far-right online forums have for months been littered with mentions of her given name alongside racist commentary and false “birther” claims.
Elsewhere, Mr Trump won the endorsement of South Carolina senator Tim Scott, the US senate’s only black Republican and formerly a presidential candidate himself. Ms Haley appointed Mr Scott to the senate in 2012, during her first term as governor.
