'It's not personal': Nikki Haley slams Donald Trump for 'lying' ahead of New Hampshire primary

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley responded to Donald Trump's criticisms when she joined co-host Ainsley Earhardt during the January 19 episode of 'Fox & Friends.'

The former president had attacked Haley for her positions on Social Security and Medicare, claiming that she was "too moderate," days before the GOP primary in New Hampshire.

Nikki Haley defends herself as being a conservative

The former UN Ambassador set out to establish the fact by reminding the host of her stand on various policies. Stating that she had never said that she wanted to cut Social Security as Trump claimed, Haley asked, "How am I not conservative?"

"I was a Tea Party governor. I passed voter ID, I passed the toughest illegal immigration law in the country, I cut taxes, I passed tort reform. We paid down our debt. I went to the U.N., we cut $1 billion," she reasoned.

Accusing her opponents of misleading the public, Haley stated, "We've got to start telling the truth. And the problem with Donald Trump and Joe Biden is they think if they tell Americans something, that it's the truth. But the problem is both of these guys are lying to the American people, and the American people deserve the truth."

Nikki Haley calls out Donald Trump

"I am not going to do anything that's not going to be tough on the border, because I passed the toughest illegal immigration law in the country," claimed Haley. "I'm going to be hard on China. And (Trump) wasn't hard on China. He praised President Xi a dozen times after China gave us Covid."

"There are multiple instances that we need to start asking Donald Trump the questions and stop taking what he's saying to be golden, because I've never once said I was going to cut Social Security. But he said he was going to raise the retirement age of Social Security to 70," she continued.

"He proposed a 25-cent gas tax increase on all Americans. He put us $8 trillion in debt in over four years, and our kids will never forgive us for that."

Fighting back against the allegations

Haley mentioned that she had the national interest in her heart, telling Earhard, "What I'm telling you is it's not personal with me and Donald Trump. This is about how do we save our country. I don't want my kids to live like this. We don't need to continue to live like this."

"And what does it say when we've got the media deciding who's a moderate and who's a conservative? Because I'll turn the question back. What have I not done that wasn't conservative? I've been a conservative all my life. Find one thing, no one can mention one thing that says I'm not a conservative," challenged the former South Carolina governor.

"And so, look, I'll tell you that I think it's important that the media be responsible with what we have, but we're going to keep telling the truth. But the fact that Donald Trump's lying, it's another reason why he won't debate me because he knows I'll call him out on it," she concluded.