(UnitedVoice.com) – When President Donald Trump was in office, he appointed former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R) to serve as the US Ambassador to the United Nations. She remained in that role from January 2017 to December 2018. Despite having an amicable relationship during that period, things apparently soured between the pair, and that has been evident as the two campaign for the Republican primary nomination. Now, Haley has seemingly done an about-face once more as she recently stated she would pardon Trump if she became president.
A Pardon If Convicted
On Sunday, February 18, Haley appeared at a Fox News town hall in her home state of South Carolina. She stuck by statements she made in the past few months, saying if Trump were to be convicted of a federal crime, she would pardon him. Her reasoning is that she “think[s] it’s important for the country to move on,” and “to leave the negativity and the baggage behind,” per Fox News.
Haley continued by saying that it’s not in the United States “best interests … to have an 80-year-old president sitting in jail.” It would stoke more division and by pardoning him, it would allow the country “to move forward.” This is the same stance she’s held since last year and one she shared with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), who has since dropped out of the race.
Haley’s Campaign Trials
Haley is fighting a massive underdog battle at the moment. According to FiveThirtyEight, Trump is ahead of the former US ambassador by a whopping 61.1%. He’s currently sitting at 77.7% odds of winning the primary, while Haley’s numbers have sunk to 16.6%.
So far, Trump has beaten Haley in all of the Republican primaries and caucuses, leading with 63 delegates to her 17. In order to win the nomination, a candidate has to reach 1,215 delegates, so there’s still plenty of time to go, but the momentum definitely isn’t swinging in her direction. Haley, however, refuses to drop out of the race, saying that the majority of Americans want someone other than President Joe Biden or Trump in office come January.
Despite Trump’s legal woes, he’s still widely favored to become the GOP candidate on the November 2024 ballot. He’s also scheduled to go to trial in March and May for accusations of making hush-money payments and holding onto classified documents, respectively. His supporters have rallied around him, with truckers threatening to boycott deliveries to New York City to protest the ruling in his recent case and purchasing $400 pairs of sneakers to help fund his campaign and defense.
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