Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley portrayed herself and her supporters as not “anti-Trump” before Super Tuesday.
“In all the narrative, everybody pretty much assumes that this is an anti-Trump movement, and it’s actually not,” Haley told reporters during a roundtable, per USA Today. On Friday morning, Haley was in Washington, D.C., which holds its primary from Friday through Sunday, and she will finish the evening in North Carolina, one of 15 states holding a Republican primary on Tuesday.
Haley repeated the sentiment that she is not averse to former President Donald Trump multiple times, telling reporters she believes the Republican Party needs a new generation of leadership.
“These crowds are not anti-Trump crowds,” Haley said. “They want someone new. They want something different. They want something to be hopeful about.
“I’m not anti-Trump,” Haley added. “This is about the fact that I think America is better than this. And I think that the Republican Party is better than this, and I think we can do more than this.”
In her latest remarks about the Republican front-runner, Haley said she is “pro-America,” using former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who dropped out of the presidential race in January, as an example of someone who strongly opposes Trump.
“If I was doing that, I would be Chris Christie,” Haley said. “Chris Christie was anti-Trump. I’m pro-America.”
On Saturday night, voters of South Carolina picked Trump over Haley in her home state, essentially closing off her path to securing the GOP nomination. The former president has swept the first five states, giving him 110 delegates, compared to Haley’s 20. A Republican candidate needs 1,215 of the 2,429 delegates to become the party’s nominee. If Trump continues to dominate the majority of the votes, Haley could potentially leave next week empty-handed in terms of delegates.
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With Haley’s chances to secure a spot on the November ballot dwindling, her change in tone regarding the former president might be an attempt to stay in the good graces of the Republican Party.
Trump has said he has ruled Haley out as a vice presidential pick, and the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has rejected such calls as well.