Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has defended her past support for Donald Trump, criticizing her primary rival for the GOP nomination, claiming the former president is “weaker than he is.”
In an interview with “TODAY” host Craig Melvin on Tuesday, Haley took issue with the generational debate over her presidential bid, arguing that both Trump and President Joe Biden were “shrinking.” And he justified his past support for Trump, both during his previous two presidential campaigns and his administration, by saying that he has changed since then.
“I’ve called him every time I’ve been in the administration,” Haley said, arguing that her past support for Trump was not without reservation. “If something was wrong – I talked to him about Charlottesville, I talked to him about something he had to say about women, I talked to him about a lot of things.
“The problem now is that he is not the same person he was in 2016. Just as Joe Biden has shrunk even more than before, he has shrunk even more.
“We’ll have to see what it is,” Haley said. “It’s a fact: He’s talking nonsense now.”
Both Haley and Trump have turned up the heat as they try to pull off a come-from-behind victory in the race for the GOP presidential nomination — and Trump wants to end the contest.
In recent weeks, Haley has repeatedly called Trump.hingeless” he accused He met with Russian President Vladimir Putincriticized him confused him with former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and declared it “not qualified“to serve as president, among other criticisms.
But his comments on Tuesday were his most public yet, as he warned against a potential campaign that he characterized as between a former president who can no longer handle the job and a current president who can’t.
“You have Joe Biden, right here the special counsel said it was declining, and he’s not the Joe Biden he was two years ago,” Haley said. “You have a Donald Trump, and he’s more bent than ever. Why do we settle for this when the country is in ruins and the world is on fire?
“We don’t want these two old men to run away. We want someone who will go and fight for us and work for us, without any drama or revenge.”
Haley’s reasoning that Trump, now a candidate, is different from the one she previously supported is also an attempt to explain how she transitioned from serving in Trump’s Cabinet and defending him from past criticism.
He referred to the news that Trump called the dead soldiers “loser” and “suckeretc” because he condemned him as someone who does not respect the army.
But in 2020, he called out Biden get down a tweet referencing these comments because “all of us who work together [Trump] witnessed his great love and respect for our soldiers. He was determined to protect them.”
Throughout the interview, Haley repeatedly mentioned that Americans are worried about Biden and Trump, a sentiment expressed in a number of polls. including NBC News‘. But the poll totals show Trump far ahead of Haley in the race for the GOP nomination both in Haley’s home state of South Carolina, the next state where a high-profile contest is being held, and across the country in an early swing state. March.
In the midst of a campaign in her home state, Haley has repeatedly pushed back on the idea that Trump’s first three nomination victories and his position in the polls indicate that Trump is on a slide toward the nomination.
“We’re going to compete in South Carolina, then we’re going to Michigan State, then we’re going to Super Tuesday,” he said.
“We don’t elect kings. We don’t crown. We have a democracy where the people vote,” Haley said before adding, “As long as we keep it competitive, why should I be out?”
Speaking of her performance, Haley said, “Don’t count on me beating dozens of guys. Don’t count on me getting 20% in Iowa when you’re saying I can’t do it. Don’t discount that. I got 43% in New Hampshire and don’t discount me now.
“I’m doing this because we have a country to save,” he said. “I’m not doing this for my political career. I’m not doing this for any gig. I’m doing this because our country deserves better. And I’m not going to stop fighting until I know I can do everything I can to save him.”
While Haley criticized early polls for trailing Trump, she pointed to a poll showing his performance. Better against Biden more than Trump in a hypothetical general election. And Haley criticized the idea that staying in would only drain Republican resources that could be used to help defeat Democrats in the fall.
“Resources from a man who spent $50 million of his own campaign contributions on private court casesWhere the RNC broke down — I’m the one who harmed the resources?” Haley said.
“If the Republican Party wants to be saved, I’m the one saving the Republican Party,” he said.
As a condition of participating in Republican National Committee-sanctioned debates, Haley and other GOP candidates signed pledges to support the party’s finalist. And Haley during the first debate raised his hand When the Fox News moderators asked who would support Trump if he won the nomination but was “tried in court.”
Pressed on how she responded to Trump’s comments that he “doesn’t need to” serve as president with a pledge to support him if he wins the nomination, Haley quickly repeated the pledge before launching into criticism of Trump’s election.
“Every Republican candidate has signed a pledge before they even get on the debate stage. That said, if we weren’t the candidate, we would support the candidate. And I said yes, and I stand by it,” Haley said.
At the same time, he continued: “I know the American people are not going to vote for a convicted felon.”