Nikki Haley, a former U.N. ambassador and governor of South Carolina who is vying for the Republican presidential nomination, declared that her approach in the first Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday night was to be truthful with the American people while coming out swinging contrary to her GOP rivals on issues like the country’s fiscal situation and Ukraine.
In an interview with “CBS Mornings” on Thursday, she reaffirmed her stance. She also continued to attack Republican front-runner Donald Trump, a former president who sat out the debate on Wednesday.
But when her co-host Tony Dokoupil questioned her about Trump, she avoided giving a straight response. Haley remained mum when asked if she thought Trump was a threat to democracy or if she wanted him to cease insinuating that the 2020 election was rigged.
She did, however, state that “we need a new generational leader” and that she does not believe Trump “will take the country forward.”
He will say what he will say, according to Haley. This describes Donald Trump. It is always. I won’t discuss whether or not an election was rigged. I’m going to talk about the current suffering of real American families, which is what they want to talk about. And we must provide them with relief.
Haley was one of the candidates to raise their hands on Wednesday to declare their support for Trump as the Republican nominee in 2024, even if he is found guilty as he is now charged in four criminal cases. She said that she would pardon him if elected president so that the nation could “move on.”
According to Haley, she wants Trump to “acknowledge facts that really happened,” such the fact that he allowed Republicans and Democrats to “spend like drunken sailors.”
When she singled out competitors Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and former Vice President Mike Pence for voting on legislation that increased the national debt on Wednesday, the former governor’s position on the country’s financial situation came into sharp view. She specifically blamed Trump for his one-term debt increase of $8 trillion.
She also made a lot of noise about foreign policy matters, such as China and Ukraine.
While Haley doesn’t believe she would provide economic money to Ukraine, she said on “CBS Mornings” that “we ought to make sure they possess the equipment, ammunition which they need to win and also do the military side of it.”
“A win for Russia is a win for China,” she continued. The first line of defense is in Ukraine. We must believe what Putin says. According to him, if he wins and seizes Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states will follow, starting a global conflict. We’re attempting to stop the war.
She added that Taiwan must be protected in order to prevent China from continuing its hostile actions against the United States and that Israel must be the United States’ first line of defense against Iran.
She stated on “CBS Mornings” that “national security is a smart foreign policy.” And Vivek Ramaswamy demonstrated last night that he has no knowledge of foreign policy or national security.
In a contentious encounter during the debate on Wednesday, Haley criticized Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old entrepreneur and political outsider, over his objection to providing more aid to Ukraine, accusing him of “choosing a murderer for a pro-American country” and warning that “he will make America less safe.”