Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley dodged when she was asked whether she thinks former President Donald Trump is a good candidate, instead acknowledging only that she thinks he is "the Republican nominee.”
After Haley said of her 2024 candidacy in a "Face the Nation" interview set to air Sunday on CBS, “I ran because I thought I could do a better job,” moderator Margaret Brennan responded, “You don’t think he’s a good candidate?”
“I think he is the Republican nominee,” Haley said in a clip released ahead of the full interview. “And I think putting him against Kamala Harris, who is the Democrat nominee — for me, it’s not a question."
"Now, do I agree with his style? Do I agree with his approach? Do I agree with his communications? No,” she continued.
Asked whether comments by his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, about women who do not have children would hurt the campaign's standing with women in a part of the interview that aired Sunday, Haley said they were "not helpful."
“You can either look at style or you can look at substance. I choose, as a voter, to look at substance," she said, adding, “The style is — no it is not helpful to talk about whether women have children or whether they don’t.”
Haley, who ran for the Republican nomination against Trump before she dropped out and quickly endorsed him, said that while she does not agree with Trump’s style, approach or communications, she supports him because of policy agreements.
Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is also willing to offer advice, she told CBS News. Haley said that she is on “standby” to campaign for Trump — and that he is aware of that willingness. But she said she has not been asked to help with debate prep or campaigning.
“And that’s his choice — whatever he decides to do with his campaign, he can do that,” she said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said last month on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that he would like to see Haley and other GOP leaders hit the trail, saying, “Me and Nikki need to go to Georgia.”
“We’re giving advice on TV to President Trump. He’s got a lot of critics,” Graham said. “He’s got a lot of advisers, but to Nikki Haley and [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis and [Virginia Gov. Glenn] Youngkin and all these great people we have, let’s get together and actually campaign for the guy.”
Haley's support and her willingness to stump for Trump are a far cry from the dynamic the two shared during the primary, when Trump mocked Haley’s birth name and Haley called him "diminished" and "unhinged." Speaking at Clemson University after she lost the South Carolina primary to Trump, Haley called him a “disaster” for the GOP, adding that she was not afraid to express her disapproval publicly and did not need to “kiss the ring.”
“Well, I’m not afraid to say the hard truths out loud,” Haley said at the time, before she endorsed Trump. “I feel no need to kiss the ring. And I have no fear of Trump’s retribution. I’m not looking for anything from him.”
Haley has gradually changed her tune, speaking at the Republican National Convention in July and offering her “strong endorsement.”
But that has not stopped Haley from criticizing Trump's campaign performance, telling Fox News in August that it needed to "focus" and stay away from personal attacks on Harris.
Discussing the options before voters this November, Haley appeared to adopt a resigned tone in her comments to Brennan.
“These are the candidates we have been given,” she said.
