Nikki Haley says Trump can’t win in general election
Mabinty Quarshie
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Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said that while she will support former President Donald Trump if he is the 2024 GOP nominee, she does not think he can win a general election
“If he gets the nomination, I would support him because I am not going to have a President Kamala Harris,” she said in a Monday morning interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box. “We can’t afford that. That is not going to happen.”
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Haley has previously said that reelecting President Joe Biden for a second term will likely lead to Vice President Kamala Harris having to step up if Biden cannot complete his term.
But during the Squawk Box interview, Haley also said Trump wouldn’t win in a general election rematch against Biden due to his pending legal problems, including a possible indictment over special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigation. Trump is also facing two other indictments. One is over allegations he mishandled classified documents and another concerns a hush money payment scheme to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. Trump could also face an indictment over a Georgia investigation into whether he tried to interfere in the 2020 presidential election results.
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“You look at these indictments, there’s probably going to be a fourth indictment,” Haley said. “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,” she continued.
Trump remains the current front-runner in the Republican 2024 race according to national polls. A RealClearPolitics polling average has Trump at 51% among GOP primary voters, while Haley is at 3.4%.
Haley also pushed back against questions about the ever-widening 2024 GOP field, arguing that more time is needed.
“This is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. We’re just getting started. This will really start to shake up post-Labor Day,” she said. “Look back at 2016. In July of 2015 [Sen. Ted] Cruz had 4% going to Iowa caucuses. In November he had 10%. In January he won it outright.”
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Though Cruz won the 2016 Iowa caucuses, he would end up dropping out, and Trump eventually become the GOP’s standard bearer.
Haley also reiterated her campaign theme of new Republican leaders. “I have said it very clearly, that we need a new generational leader. We’ve got to leave this negativity behind,” she said.