Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley criticized the Trump campaign’s approach to defeating Vice President Kamala Harris and refused to commit to campaigning for her former Republican rival.
In an interview on Fox News’s Special Report with Bret Baier, Haley scathingly critiqued former President Donald Trump’s campaign, claiming several flaws. When pressed by Baier as to whether she would commit to campaigning for Trump, given she has endorsed him, Haley dodged the question.
“I mean, he is welcome to call. I have talked to him. He is welcome to do that,” she said when asked if she would accept Trump’s request to campaign for him if asked. “They are doing what they think is best. And that is his right, to run the campaign he wants to run. He has chosen that.”
“All I’m saying is I want to see them focus and I want to see them win,” Haley continued. “We have too much at stake. We have to win this election. And I genuinely hope that he will go out to the 20% of people that are going to decide this election and say, ‘You know what? I need your vote, and I’m going to fight hard to do it, and these are the issues I’m going to fight on.’”
She criticized the campaign on multiple fronts, repeating complaints from other Republicans that Trump shouldn’t attack Harris based on her racial identity and other insults.
“The campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes,” she said. “It’s not going to win talking about what race Kamala Harris is. It’s not going to win talking about whether she is dumb. It’s not — you can’t win on those things. The American people are smart. Treat them like they are smart.”
“The Republican Party, Donald Trump, people here at Fox, quit complaining that she is not giving an interview; you don’t need an interview from Kamala Harris,” Haley added at another point. “I take her at her word that she wants to raise taxes for households over $100,000. … Take her at her word.”
Haley also took several other swipes at Trump, beginning the interview by saying that she ran because she didn’t believe Trump was the best candidate but doesn’t want Harris to be president and so wants Trump to win.
The former South Carolina governor also said she doesn’t want to serve in a second Trump administration and would refuse the offer if Trump gave one.
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“No, I’m not interested in serving in the administration. I said that on the campaign. This was never about a position for me. This was never about something else. I ran because I love this country so much,” Haley said. “It was really in that vein that I ran. But now it’s in that vein as a voter that I want to see Donald Trump win. Because we can’t afford to have a President Kamala Harris.”
Haley was the last major Republican to run against Trump, becoming his foremost rival after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) dropped out. She lost nearly every primary before dropping out of the race in March and endorsed Trump at the Republican National Convention in July.
