U.S. President Donald Trump criticized 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Navanethem “Navi” Pillay and challenged coverage of alleged Russian interference at a South Carolina rally for a Republican senator, The Independent reported.
The Oct. 21 appearance took place at Clemson University’s T. Ed Garrison Arena in Pendleton, where Trump joined Sen. Darline Graham. The Independent described Graham’s Senate contest as tight.
Trump returned to his complaint that the Nobel committee had not awarded him the peace prize. He recounted an exchange with Venezuelan activist María Corina Machado, saying she had told him he was more deserving than other recipients. Trump also said he had been told the 2026 award could go to him, but another person received it.
He said he had settled eight wars; The Independent said the figure had faced dispute. Trump then attacked Pillay, saying, “She hates Israel with a passion.” The Nobel Prize website said her work on international law and peace was the basis for the honor.
Trump said he should have won a Pulitzer Prize for writing, then criticized journalism he associated with “Russia, Russia, Russia.” The Independent reported he was referring to Pulitzer-winning coverage by The New York Times and The Washington Post of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. He said the reporting was wrong: “They all had it wrong. They had it wrong.”
At another point in the speech, Trump asked the audience to identify the peace award, then referred to its recipient as a Pulitzer winner. He described that person as a young woman he thought was 80. The Independent said the remarks appeared to conflate the two prizes.
EconoTimes previously covered Trump’s Pulitzer claim at the same South Carolina rally.
