Nikki Haley indicated she no longer feels bound by the Republican National Committee pledge she made to endorse the eventual GOP nominee. Haley is the only remaining high-profile Republican candidate challenging former president Donald Trump for the party’s presidential nomination.
“You did sign a pledge, an RNC pledge to support the eventual nominee. Do you still feel bound by that pledge?” Kristen Welker asked Haley.
“I have always said that I have serious concerns about Donald Trump. I have even more concerns about Joe Biden,” Haley said.
“So, is that a no? Are you bound by the RNC pledge?” Welker asked, attempting to clarify.
Haley responded that all candidates had to take the pledge if they wanted to participate in Republican primary debates. Trump, however, did not sign the pledge. “In order to get on that debate stage, you said yes. The RNC is now not the same RNC,” Haley said.
“So, you’re no longer bound by that pledge?” Welker asked.
“No, I think I’ll make what decision I want to make,” Haley replied.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, who was in charge at the time Haley made the pledge, has announced she will step down from her role later this week. With the upcoming leadership vacancies, Trump has been pushing hard for his allies, including his campaign’s senior advisor Chris LaCivita and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to fill those positions.
Haley said last week that it is “very possible” that the modern Republican Party has shifted away from her views. “What I am saying to my Republican Party family is, we are in a ship with a hole in it, and we can either go down with the ship and watch the country go socialist left, or we can see that we need to take the life raft and move in a new direction,” Haley told CNN’s Dana Bash last week.
Haley’s chances of securing the nomination are slim. She trails far behind Trump in the delegate count and continues to lose primaries to him, including in her home state of South Carolina.
When Welker brought up what Trump might do with a second term, Haley said she didn’t know whether Trump would abide by the Constitution.
“Do you think Donald Trump would follow the Constitution if he were elected to a second term?” Welker asked.
“You always want to think someone will, but I don’t know,” Haley responded. “When you go and you talk about revenge. When you go and you talk about vindication … I don’t think there should ever be a president that’s above the law. I don’t think that there should ever be a president that has total immunity to do whatever they want to do.”
Source link: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/nikki-haley-pledge-endorse-trump-if-nominee-1234979849/