北达科他州州长道格·伯格姆在暂停自己的共和党总统竞选后支持唐纳德·特朗普，周日试图淡化这位前总统的竞选新的煽动性攻击前南卡罗莱纳州州长妮基·黑利的名字和遗产。

当美国广播公司新闻节目《本周》的联合主持人玛莎·拉达茨就特朗普故意念错海莉的名字——尼玛拉塔——并提出她无法当选总统的虚假阴谋论一事向她施压时因为她的印度移民父母当她出生在南卡罗来纳州时，她还不是美国公民，伯根最初没有直接回答。

但拉达茨接着说:“请回答问题，先生。回答你为什么认为唐纳德·特朗普这样做的问题。”

特朗普多次错报或念错海莉的名字，更多的是在社交媒体帖子中。结婚后，她用自己的中间名，随丈夫姓。

特朗普有对一些非白人对手进行种族主义攻击的历史——包括臭名昭著的质疑巴拉克·奥巴马是否出生在美国(他出生在美国)以及挑出奥巴马的中间名侯赛因。

伯根在《本周》(This Week)节目中把这些评论归结为竞选活动中更为例行的激烈交锋，指出乔·拜登总统如何追逐特朗普，而不是他认为的更关注犯罪、移民和通货膨胀等关键问题。

“我认为这是政治，”伯根说，并补充说，“这是世界各地的政治，也是美国的政治。”

“那么，你认为这就是唐纳德·特朗普正在使用的那种政治吗?追求妮基·黑利的传统，这将使这个国家团结起来?”拉达茨问道。

“你可以问我伊丽莎白·沃伦、伯尼·桑德斯和卡玛拉·哈里斯说了什么?他们对乔·拜登的恶毒言论，甚至是在该党内部的全国电视辩论中，”布尔古姆说，他指的是拜登2020年的一些主要对手。“这是我们国家政治的常态。但是一旦我们作为政党达成一致，我们就会支持候选人。民主党在2020年支持拜登。我相信共和党人会支持特朗普总统。”

对于特朗普的攻击，黑利也做出了回应。

“我很了解特朗普总统。当他感到威胁时就会这么做。这就是他感到不安全时所做的事情，”她周四在CNN的一次市政厅会议上说。

在这张2023年11月4日的档案照片中，共和党总统候选人北达科他州州长道格·伯根在佛罗里达州基西米举行的佛罗里达州自由峰会上发表讲话。

乔·雷德尔/盖蒂图片社

伯根，谁12月暂停了他的竞选活动在未能获得支持后，本月早些时候，在2024年爱荷华州初选开始前一天支持了特朗普。

在“本周”(This Week)节目中，伯根被问及他似乎与特朗普有分歧的几个领域，包括自我宣布的团结国家的使命——而特朗普誓言“报复”——以及重申拜登赢得了2020年的竞选。

布尔古姆表示，他支持特朗普是因为他“相信特朗普总统在经济、能源政策和国家安全方面将是正确的。”

“在特朗普总统执政期间，我的意思是，我们在美国实现了和平与繁荣。在拜登总统的领导下，我们在世界各地都陷入了混乱。

当拉达茨就特朗普一再毫无根据地声称2020年大选被“窃取”一事向布尔古姆施压时，布尔古姆过去一直反对这一立场，包括接受美国广播公司新闻主播乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯的采访。布尔古姆最初转向了其他候选人对选举过程提出质疑的过去事例。

他随后列举了2020年的“违规行为”，尽管从未有任何证据表明存在广泛的欺诈行为。

“先生，你认为选举现在被窃取了吗?”Raddatz跟进。

“不，我不是这个意思，”伯根回应道。

“我是说我认为我们必须...确保美国人对这些选举有信心。

伯格姆还驳斥了特朗普最近的一次失言。特朗普在讨论1月6日对美国国会大厦的袭击时，多次把海利和前众议院议长南希·佩洛西混淆。

民调显示，特朗普和其他共和党人一再攻击拜登的年龄和健康状况，许多选民也认为拜登的年龄和健康状况很差-正如拜登所说，他的工作说明了一切。

海利抓住了特朗普在最近一次竞选活动中的失误，暗示他可能也不够坚强。

“我一直在竞选活动中，我知道当你昼夜不停地竞选时，有可能...使用不适合句子的单词，”Burgum告诉Raddatz。“但我要说的是，上周在爱荷华州和新罕布什尔州与总统在一起，看着他每天坚持20个小时，我知道他有能力、有经验来领导。”任何的

Burgum downplays Trump attacks on Haley's name and conspiracy about her heritage

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who endorsed Donald Trump after suspending his own Republican presidential campaign, on Sunday tried to downplay the former president'sinflammatory new attackson former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's name and heritage.

When pressed by ABC News "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Trump's intentional mispronunciations of Haley's first name -- Nimarata -- and elevation of a false conspiracy theory that she is unable to be presidentbecause her Indian immigrant parentsweren't citizens when she was born in South Carolina, Burgum initially did not give a direct answer.

But Raddatz followed up: "Please answer the question, sir. Answer the question about why you think Donald Trump is doing that."

Trump has repeatedly misstated or mispronounced Haley's first name, more often in social media posts. She goes by her middle name and took her husband's last name after they married.

Trump has a history of racist attacks on some non-white opponents -- including infamously questioning whether Barack Obama was born in the U.S. (he was) and singling out Obama's middle name, Hussein.

Burgum on "This Week" chalked the comments up to more routine sharp exchanges in a campaign, pointing to how President Joe Biden has gone after Trump rather than, he argued, focusing more on key issues like crime, immigration and inflation.

"I think it's politics," Burgum said, adding, "That's politics around the world, and it's politics in America."

"So, do you think that's the kind of politics that Donald Trump is using, going after Nikki Haley's heritage, that will bring the country together?" Raddatz asked.

"You could ask me the question about, you know, what did Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris say? The vicious things they said about Joe Biden, even during debates nationally televised within that party," Burgum said, referencing some of Biden's 2020 primary opponents. "This is all in the norm for politics in our country. But once we agree as parties, we get behind candidates. The Democrats got behind Biden in 2020. I'm confident Republicans are gonna get behind President Trump."

Haley has also responded to Trump's attacks.

"I know President Trump well. That's what he does when he feels threatened. That's what he does when he feels insecure," she said during a CNN town hall on Thursday.

Burgum, whosuspended his campaign in Decemberafter failing to gain traction, endorsed Trump earlier this month, one day before the Iowa caucuses that began the 2024 race.

On "This Week," Burgum was asked about several areas in which he seemingly diverges from Trump, including a self-declared mission to pull the country together -- while Trump has vowed "retribution" -- and reaffirming that Biden won the 2020 race.

Burgum said he was endorsing Trump because he was "confident that President Trump is going to be right on the economy, right on energy policy and right on national security."

"During the time that President Trump was in office, I mean, we had peace and prosperity in America. And under President Biden, we’ve got chaos around the world," he said.

When Raddatz pressed Burgum over Trump's repeated and unfounded claims that the 2020 election was "stolen," a stance Burgum has opposed in the past, including an interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, Burgum initially pivoted to past instances of other candidates raising questions about the election process.

He then cited "irregularities" regarding 2020, though there has never been any evidence of widespread fraud.

"Do you think the election was stolen now, sir?" Raddatz followed up.

"No, I'm not saying that," Burgum responded.

"I'm saying that I think that we have to ... make sure that Americans have confidence in these elections," he said.

Burgum also swatted away a recent gaffe by Trump in which he repeatedly confused Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while discussing the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump and other Republicans have made repeated attacks on Biden's age and fitness, which many voters also feel is poor, polls show -- as Biden says his work speaks for itself.

Haley seized on Trump's slip in a recent campaign appearance, suggesting he, too, might not be mentally strong enough.

"I've been on the campaign trail, and I know when you're going around the clock, it's possible to ... use words that don't fit in sentences," Burgum told Raddatz. "But I would say having been with the president last week in Iowa and in New Hampshire and watching him go for 20 hours a day, I know that he's got the strength, he's got the experience to lead."any