On Wednesday, former ambassador to the United Nations and GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley told Fox News, “I’m not obsessively anti-Trump like (Chris Christie),” saying that she is more focused on policies than just former President Donald Trump’s personality.
Haley, who is also the former governor of South Carolina and served in her UN post under Trump, said earlier in the week that she’d support Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee for president in 2024, even as she also stated that she doesn’t believe he can win the general election.
“I would support him because I am not going to have a President Kamala Harris. We can’t afford that. That is not going to happen,” Haley said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, but she further suggested that the country needs a “new generational leader.”
Legal Troubles
Haley has noted that Trump will face additional indictments, and even if he secures the GOP’s nomination, he is unlikely to return to the White House.
“We can’t have, as Republicans, him as the nominee. He can’t win a general election. That’s the problem. We’ve got to go and have someone who can actually win,” Haley added, standing by her opinion that she would be the candidate that could defeat President Joe Biden in the general election next year.
“This is a marathon, it’s not a sprint,” she said Monday. “We’re just getting started. This will really start to shake up post-Labor Day.”
Fifth in the Polls
Currently, among the Republican presidential hopefuls, Haley is in a distant fifth place according to the latest RealClearPolitics average.
However, she expects her numbers in the polls to rise following the first Republican primary, which is scheduled for August 23 in New Hampshire.
Though she still has mid to low single-digit support in recent GOP polls, Haley did meet the Republican National Committee’s polling and fundraising requirements to qualify for participation in the debate. Her campaign has also said she will sign the loyalty pledge to support the eventual nominee – a point that explains why she has maintained she would, in fact, support Trump.
Haley also noted that the other candidates in the race have spent millions of dollars, which her campaign has not – citing the fact that “no one’s paying attention.” That will change after the debate, Haley added.
Nikki Haley: Having It Both Ways?
Michael Steele, the former head of the RNC, called out Haley stating she was trying to “have it both ways” when it comes to Donald Trump.
Steele told MSNBC’s Chris Jansing on Monday that Haley needs to take on Trump or “get out of the race,” adding “Stop wasting our time.”
The former RNC chairman explained that the GOP candidates could even remove Trump as a viable option, but so far there is no unified effort to do so.
“If there was more of a unified messaging in that regard, then you would probably begin to see some movement inside the party,” the former GOP leader added. “But everyone’s hunkering down around protecting Trump as opposed to taking him out because they’re afraid of what? So … it’s almost to the point where you get tired of answering the question about what are these people doing? They have no clue what they’re doing.”
Instead, it appears that the loyalty pledge will ensure that the field simply backs a candidate that is destined to lose the general election.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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