Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley hinted that a conviction of former President Donald Trump might cause her to step back on her debate pledge to support whoever the Republican presidential nominee is.
In an interview with USA Today, Haley spent much of her screentime bashing Trump as “diminished” and not appreciative of the military. When directly asked if she would still support Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee, Haley said that she “stood by” her Republican National Committee pledge to support whoever the nominee may be but also hinted that she might not if he’s convicted in a court of law.
The interviewer asked the former U.N. ambassador to explain her recent statement saying Trump was “no longer qualified” to be president after he questioned where her husband, who is currently serving in the military, was, with her RNC pledge to support the Republican nominee no matter who it was.
“I’ve said any of those 14 [Republican candidates] would be better than Joe Biden because everybody sees how diminished Joe Biden is. I will also tell you there is no way that the American people are going to vote for a convicted criminal.”
“But you said you would!” interviewer Craig Melvin retorted.
“That is not the question,” Haley answered. “Every Republican nominee signed a pledge before they could even get on the debate stage that said if we were not the nominee, would we support the nominee? And I said yes, and I stand by that, that I would support the Republican nominee.”
However, when Melvin countered with her recent statement that Trump was no longer qualified to be president, the South Carolina Republican doubled down.
“If you don’t know the value of our men and women in uniform, if you don’t know the sacrifice that they go through, why should I, as a military spouse and all our military families, trust you to know you’re going to keep them out of harm’s way?” Haley answered. “I mean, the reality is, he’s never been anywhere near a military uniform.”
The interview moved on to other questions, leaving the matter unresolved. The Washington Examiner reached out to Haley for comment and clarification.
Elsewhere in the interview, Haley stuck by her decision to stay in the race despite double-digit losses in every primary so far. When asked to point to a state where she believed she had a chance, Haley pointed to the number of delegates she has won and said her prospects were steadily rising as her message got out.
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Haley, once a Trump ally, has become an increasingly embittered enemy during the 2024 primary, with each candidate launching increasingly personal attacks on the other. Previous suggestions that Haley could be on the short list for the vice presidential slot, in the event of a Trump nomination, look increasingly unlikely.
Meanwhile, the former U.N. ambassador has continued to sink in the polls. A recent Economist/YouGov poll, taken Feb. 11-13, had her support among Republicans at just 11%, 71 percentage points behind Trump.