Nikki Haley ramps up criticism of Donald Trump days away from Iowa caucuses
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Monday night ratcheted up her criticism of former President Donald Trump as she attempts to close the gap between them in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, the first two nominating contests of the 2024 election.
"I think that Trump has copped out because he used to get it right and now he's turning around and he's getting it wrong wanting to be an isolationist," Haley said at the town hall in Des Moines Monday night, defending her stance on support for Ukraine's military. She was responding to a question at a Fox News town hall from moderator Martha MacCallum that noted that her opponents — Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — are "on the other side" of the issue and more concerned about security at home.
Haley, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, has sought to walk the fine line between criticizing the former president and courting his voters, a stance that has led to criticism from her opponents, as well as Republican voters in states holding early nominating contests.
Days away from the nation's first nominating contest, Trump and his campaign have made Haley a target of their attacks. A new ad accuses Haley of opposing the border wall that Trump famously campaigned on in his 2016.
"Just because President Trump says something doesn't make it true," Haley said, adding she appreciates the attention from him. "He's taking snippets of things I said. I said, 'You shouldn't just do the border wall. You have to do more than that.' That's what I said."
Later, Haley said of Trump that "he was good at breaking things, but now we need somebody to fix them," appearing to reference his unfulfilled 2016 campaign promises. He said that he was going to go deal with the border, but he never quite got there. We need to fix it. Now. Make sure that we stop the flow," she added.
At campaign stops, Haley often reassures voters that she supported Trump during his administration. She reiterated on Monday night that she thought Trump was the "right president at the right time, but rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him."
Some Iowans say they want to move on from Trump. "I supported Donald Trump twice," said Jeff Hezberg, an Iowan who attended Haley's campaign stop over the weekend. "Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you."
Others say Haley isn't being hard enough on Trump.
"Why does she not hold President Trump accountable?" said Reggie Alt, a potential caucus goer who attended a Haley town hall over the weekend in Indianola. "He's done plenty wrong and yet, the worst she says is 'chaos follows him.'"
As Haley made her final pitch to Iowans at Monday's town hall, the Trump campaign was filling email inboxes with a stream of subject lines that included "Nikki Haley loves China" and "Nikki Haley revives Bush Amnesty Policies." It is part of a Trump and Haley feud that's likely to intensify as caucus day approaches.