GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Today, Nikki Haley sat down with Fox News' Martha McCallum to issue a warning about what's at stake in this election. At home, she called for getting America's fiscal house in order to tame inflation. Abroad, Haley backed a strong foreign policy with support for our allies as the best way to keep America safe and prevent war. Finally, she warned that Republicans can't save America if they can't win a general election, and Donald Trump can't win.
Haley on Trump abandoning fiscal responsibility…
"Under his watch we went eight of our $34 trillion in debt in four years under him, more than any other president. He said nothing about fiscal responsibility, he said nothing about cutting spending, he said nothing about reducing the size of government. He's taken that completely off the table, and we see Republicans and Democrats wasting money."
Haley on Trump's flirtation with isolationism…
"We've always believed in peace through strength and for the first time we see him retreating from our ally Ukraine and going into the hands of Putin. And look, America should never be so arrogant to think we don't need friends. After 9-11 we needed a lot of friends and to have this retreat and say that we're just going to sit in our bubble that's a way that's going to get America more into war. Putin's made it very clear: Once he's done with Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next. That's a big deal."
Haley on Trump's GOP Titanic…
"Look at what's happening to the party. The RNC now, before the primary is over, he's going in, he's booted out the chair, he's putting in his daughter-in-law, he's putting in his campaign chair as an operative. But more than that, he's pushing to have the RNC be just about him. So it's not going to be about the House and Senate anymore, and it's all turning into his legal slush fund. That is not what we're supposed to see in our Republican Party. This is a ship that has a hole in it. It is going to sink. We are going to lose in November and go towards the socialist path if we don't right the ship and that's really what I'm trying to get out to Republicans and Americans."
Haley on Trump's Michigan losses…
"I'm in Michigan now. In 2012, they were a beacon. They were winning everything. They had just passed right to work. They were doing great things. Now you look, since 2016, when Trump came in, they've lost the governor's mansion, they've lost the State House, they've lost the State Senate. They now have a divided Republican Party, two different factions, that's happening all over the country. We've got a Republican Party split and that comes when you've got a candidate who says that his opponent's supporters are barred permanently from MAGA. And you make it about this label and you don't make it about bringing more people into the party. That is an equation to lose a general election. This is supposed to be a big tent where we want more people to come in. He is pushing people out of our party."
Haley on a third-party run…
"I'm a Republican. I have not talked to any other organization. I have not put a second of thought into an independent run because I'm a Republican. That's what I've always been. I've been a conservative Republican my whole life. I'm not going to switch over and have a Democrat vice president. That's not something I would do. My heart has always been with the Republican Party and this country so that's what I'm going to do."
Nikki Haley, Haley Campaign Press Release - Haley on Fox News: Trump's Ship "Is Going to Sink" Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/370247