Washington: Indian American Nikki Haley, the top US diplomat to the UN, has described rumours about her having an affair with President Donald Trump as “highly offensive” and “disgusting”.
“It is absolutely not true,” she said, of the allegation made in the controversial book Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff.
Haley – the first ever In-dian-American Cabinet-ranking official in any presidential administration – told Politico in an interview: “I have literally been on Air Force One once and there were several people in the room when I was there.”
“He (Wolff) says that I’ve been talking a lot with the President in the Oval (office) about my political future. I’ve never talked once to the President about my future and I am never alone with him,” she said.
“So, the idea that these things come out, that's a problem,” she said expressing her frustration on such rumours.
“But it goes to a bigger issue that we need to always be conscious of: At every point in my life, I’ve noticed that if you speak your mind and you’re strong about it and you say what you believe, there is a small percentage of people that resent that and the way they deal with it is to try and throw arrows, lies or not,” Haley, 46, said during her interview.
In politics for over a decade now, the former South Carolina governor said she has faced similar allegations earlier too.
“I saw this as a legislator. I saw this when I was governor. I see it now. I see them do it to other women. And the thing is, when women work, they prioritise, they focus, and they believe if you're gonna do something, do it right,” she said.
