Charles Huckelbury lives in Henniker.

Donald Trump held a raucous campaign rally in Conway, South Carolina, on Saturday and elicited roaring approval from his fan base by attacking Nikki Haley, his only remaining opponent for the GOP nomination.

Although a long shot, Haley must still represent a threat because Trump felt compelled to explain her service in his administration. He defended her appointment as U.N. ambassador in practical terms, saying that once rid of her in South Carolina’s governor’s mansion, Henry McMaster could take her place, but only after endorsing Trump.

After calling Haley a “birdbrain,” Trump then launched into a series of personal insults that implied that her marriage might be having difficulties, whatever bearing that might have on the current contest. Specifically, he invoked the absence of Haley’s husband on the stage with her. The supreme irony, of course, is the notable absence of Melania Trump in his own campaign.

Trump went down this crude path by repeatedly touting Michael Haley’s absence. He kept asking, “Where is he?” as if the AWOL husband were hiding out somewhere or incommunicado aboard a flight headed to some unspecified destination. It has become common knowledge in the current U.S. election cycle that Trump is far from a master of details and tends to create his own reality, possibly as a result of starring in his own “reality” television series. It would not, however, have taken much time or talent to determine Michael Haley’s location and the reason for not appearing with his wife.

It turns out that Michael Haley is actually Major Michael Haley, a combat veteran currently deployed in Africa. He has not been able to participate in his wife’s campaign because he was otherwise occupied serving his country, something about which Donald Trump knows absolutely nothing. He is, after all, the same candidate who described American soldiers killed in action as “losers” and “suckers.”

Trump further displayed a startling, and dangerous, ignorance of geopolitical reality when he told his acolytes that once he was back in the White House he would urge Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member who does not, in Trump’s accounting, contribute a fair share toward keeping the alliance relevant. (Trump is certainly familiar with deficit spending. He added $7.8 trillion to the national debt during his tenure.)

The remarks about not defending NATO allies if attacked by Russia follow Trump’s persistent threat to pull the U.S. out of NATO completely. More astute members of the audience could imagine Vladimir Putin grinning and rubbing his palms together in anticipation of another four years of Donald Trump.

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To his credit, Major Haley issued a measured response to Trump’s personal attacks on him and his wife. In a post on X, the major included a picture of a wolf and then posed a question about the primary difference between humans and animals. The answer? “Animals would never pick the dumbest to lead the pack.”

Perhaps Trump is an aberration and not the rule. Still, no doubt many people continue to wonder how we ever got to the top of the food chain.