Mitchell brought the heat to Bolton, who quoted Mike Pompeo, a secretary of state under Donald Trump, in his remark, as she quizzed him on his comment.
“Would you be saying that about a man?” asked Mitchell on “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”
Bolton, who was one of Trump’s national security advisers, swerved away from the question and decided to bring up Haley’s mention of Jeane Kirkpatrick, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Ronald Reagan, in a campaign ad.
“Well, I knew Jeane Kirkpatrick also, but Nikki Haley is running as a former governor, as someone who has been elected, who has faced some tough issues in South Carolina as well as being U.N. ambassador,” Mitchell replied. “I’m just wondering if you’re judging her in a different way based on gender?”
“Of course not,” said Bolton before he continued to criticize the candidate, who was appointed ambassador by Trump.
Haley would face Trump in the Republican primaries for the 2024 presidential nomination.