Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is knocking former President Donald Trump for “living in the past.”
In an interview with RealClearPolitics, Haley decried “whining” in politics.
When asked if her comment about whining applied to Trump, she said, “He’s living in the past, and the past is catching up with him in a way that it is causing drama.”
“And I think it’s been politicized. He’s been abused – the way that he has been treated in office and out of office is wrong,” she continued. “But the American people need to go forward.”
The former South Carolina governor called Trump a “friend.”
However, Haley said she believes voters “get the fact that this could be challenging for him to win a general.”
After the whole "woman in her prime" fiasco, @NikkiHaley tells me Don Lemon never reached out to apologize.
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) April 13, 2023
Her campaign tells me someone at CNN did reach out to make amends. https://t.co/fLgJra1Qve
She went on, “We have to move forward. We can’t deal with the drama that’s following him. We can’t deal with the baggage.”
“We’ve got a country to save,” she added.
A spokesman for the Trump campaign told RealClearPolitics, “Take a look at the polling and how President Trump is by far the overwhelming choice for Republicans (in the primary) and for all Americans (the general). It’s clear who the most ‘electable’ candidate is.”
Her comments come days after a memo sent by Haley’s campaign manager, Betsy Ankney, to donors said Trump is “consumed by the grievances of the past and the promise of more drama in the future, rather than a forward-looking vision for the American people.”
Haley has previously declined to speak about Trump.
During a February interview on Fox News, she was asked where she differs from Trump on policy.
“Look at everything that’s wrong in this country and tell me we don’t need new leadership,” she responded.
She added, “The difference is we need new generational leadership. We have to leave the status quo. We have to leave this chaos behind and we’ve gotta start talking about the future.”
When asked again, Haley said, “What I am saying is I don’t kick sideways.”
“I’m kicking forward. Joe Biden is the president. He’s the one I’m running against,” she added.
