Presidential candidate Nikki Haley has been caught in leaked audio from a town hall meeting in Bedford, New Hampshire, criticizing transgender social media star Dylan Mulvaney, accusing her of "dressing up like a girl" to make fun of women.

In the recording, obtained by RadarOnline.com, Haley initially discussed the participation of transgender girls in school sports, calling it "the women's rights issue of our time." She then turned her attention to the Bud Light controversy involving popular TikTok influencer Mulvaney.

"Have any of you all seen Dylan Mulvaney? You know who that is? On the beer cans?" Haley asked the audience. "Let me tell you something. I know that there are transgender people out there — that is not a transgender person."

Haley continued, "That is a guy dressing up like a girl, making fun of women. We don't act like that. Yet companies are glorifying him. And then we're supposed to tell our girls, 'Be strong and be confident?' What are we doing?"

The leaked audio surfaced shortly before Mulvaney broke her silence regarding the backlash from her partnership with Anheuser-Busch to promote Bud Light, which resulted in a $5 billion drop in the brand's market value and boycott calls from artists like Kid Rock and Travis Tritt.

Mulvaney explained her social media hiatus, saying it was to process her emotions following similar comments about her collaboration with sports brand Nike.

"A lot has been said about me, some of which is so far from my truth that I was hearing my name and I didn’t even know who they were talking about sometimes," Mulvaney shared. "It was so loud that I didn't feel part of the conversation, so I decided to take the back seat and just let them tucker themselves out."

Despite the criticism, Mulvaney emphasized her commitment to loving everyone, even those who make it difficult. She plans to focus on the people who love and support her rather than listening to the "noise."

"Going forward, I want to share parts of me on here that have nothing to do with my identity. And I'm hoping those parts will still be exciting to you and will be enough," Mulvaney concluded.