Nikki Haley draws flak as she says Trump's indictment will 'further divide our country'

WAUKEE, IOWA: On Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate, former UN Ambassador, and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley appeared on Newsmax’s ‘Newsline’ to speak about why she would pardon former President Donald Trump if he was convicted.

With only five days away from the all-important January 15 Iowa caucus, Republican presidential candidates such as Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and firebrand 38-year-old billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy have been upping the ante in their bid to garner votes from the Hawkeye State Republicans.

However, according to a RealClearPolitics poll, former President Donald Trump is still miles ahead of his fellow GOP rivals with 52.2 percent of the popular vote to his name, followed by Nikki Haley’s 16.6 percent butting heads with DeSantis’s 16.4 percent, and Ramaswamy with 7 percent and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at 3.4 percent respectively.

What did Haley say about her chances in upcoming Hawkeye State caucus?

On Monday, the GOP presidential primary will be up and running in the new calendar year with Republican candidates still unsure if they should drop out or stick it till the end, considering the legal battles the former President and the frontrunner of this GOP presidential race, Donald Trump currently finds himself caught up in.

Nikki Haley was asked by the Newsmax host, “One of your surrogates, Don Bolduc, this morning here on Newsmax says this is a two person race, saying it's basically you and it's Trump. So, tell our audience on Newsline, what do you think success would be for you in Iowa? Is it second, is it third? And it's sort of a signal to Ron DeSantis to hear this is a two person race.”

Haley responded, “Our goal is to be strong in Iowa, strong in New Hampshire, strong in South Carolina. We won't know what strong looks like until we see election day and see how the numbers fall out.”

“But we feel really good. The momentum on the ground is good. People are excited. They're ready to caucus,” she added. “They've had enough of the TV commercials and the mailers and all that, that now they're ready to go to the polls and make it happen. And so we're excited. We're continuing to get good crowds. We're continuing to get good momentum. And we're going to fight until the very end.”

Haley was then asked by the interviewer, “So when we talk about a path forward, though, it obviously goes to New Hampshire. And some are saying, you know, Donald Trump leading in the polls. There were polls showing today, fresh data saying you're surging. Some here say you're cooling. How much do you believe in that?”

“Well, I think you never really know a poll until election day. But I think what you can look at and see is that the polls are consistently showing that there's a narrow margin between me and Trump in New Hampshire,” the former South Carolina Governor added.

“The polls continue to show that we are surging in Iowa and getting further and further into second place. And I think, you know, right now we're in second in Iowa, second New Hampshire, second in South Carolina. That's a great place for us to be. We got one more fellow to catch up to. And so, we're going to continue doing that.”

The interviewer then mentioned to the former United nations ambassador, “Today, Donald Trump is in DC for his immunity case in the appeals court there as your former boss. And you said you believe he should be left on the ballot. You've also said chaos just follows him."

She questioned, "Is some of the chaos though, not of his own causing? When you have people like a Secretary of State removing him from a ballot, does it take two to tango? Is there any sympathy for you for what you're seeing Donald Trump go through in some way as someone who once was your boss?”

Haley responded, “Absolutely. I've said, rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him. I mean, we've seen some of these cases have been incredibly political. We've seen other cases where he can be his own worst enemy and he gets himself into trouble. Either way, chaos follows him.”

She continued, “You know, what I have said is he absolutely should be on the ballot. This is a door we never want to open, because once you open this door, you can't close it. And we can't have other people deciding for us who should and shouldn't be on a ballot. I will defeat Donald Trump fair and square. I don't need anybody throwing him off the ballot to do that.”

“And I think we need to be really careful. Supreme Court needs to respond very quickly on this before other states start to move forward,” she added.

“Would you pardon Donald Trump?” Newsmax host asks Haley

“I would pardon Donald Trump. I think that when you talk about a pardon, you're already assuming that he has been found guilty. I think he's still innocent until proven guilty,” Haley replied.

She said in conclusion, “But I think what's important is the last thing we need to see is an 80-year-old president sitting in jail. I think that further divides our country. So, for the good of the country, I absolutely think that the right thing to do would be to pardon Donald Trump.”

Nikki Haley caught the ire of Internet saying she would grant Trump presidential pardon

People on X were furious with Haley's admission that she would cower to the strongman of the MAGA base if she eventually ends up winning the presidential election in November.

One X user remarked: "Deer in the headlights."

Another user quipped: "Is someone gonna tell her that trump doesn't think she should be on the ballot?"

Another user wrote: "If she thinks he is anything other than corrupt and criminal, she is part of the problem."

"Constitutional scholar Haley needs a refresher course" one user suggested.

Another X user remarked: "She is such a weak person without convictions."

Finally, this user tweeted: "Haley is basically saying that it's okay for a corrupt president to get away with his crimes as long as he's old and divisive. But hey, let's all just pretend that this is a noble and selfless position, rather than a cynical attempt to appeal to Trump's base and position herself for a future presidential run."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.