On Monday night, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley participated in "Democracy 2024: FOX News Town Hall with Nikki Haley," an event held in Des Moines at the Iowa Events Center, a week out from the Iowa Republican Caucus, the first nominating contest for 2024. When it comes to memorable moments, it was arguably more memorable what she didn't say than what she did say.
To start the event, co-hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum went through some current event stories, including how Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has come under fire for failing to disclose for days how he was in the hospital. This included a stay at the Intensive Care Unit.
MacCallum pointed to "this mysterious situation around the secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, who, for several days, the White House didn't appear to know that he was in intensive care," adding we just learned moments ago that they are saying they don't know when he is going to be released from the hospital, which makes this mystery a little bit deeper." She went on to ask if Haley agreed with former and potentially future President Donald Trump, who has called for Austin to be fired.
"I think Biden should be fired," Haley responded. We already know that, though, given how Haley is running to defeat President Joe Biden in November. And while some accountability for the president over this and other matters would be nice, it doesn't answer the question that MacCallum asked.
"This is unbelievable that we have a situation like this. When I had a crisis in South Carolina, if we were dealing with anything and I had to deal with my adjutant general, I was on the phone with him every day twice a day. We have war in Europe. We have a war in the Middle East. North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States. China is on the march," Haley continued.
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She went on to list out her concerns with the administration, highlighting how "there are so many things wrong with this."
"First, I have a problem with the fact that Biden is not talking to his secretary of defense every single day anyway. Secondly, is there not enough connection that he didn't even know he was put in the hospital in intensive care at that? And then to go and say, oh, but his deputy secretary knew what was going on but she is vacationing in Puerto Rico? There are so many things wrong with this," she shared.
Haley, who also served as the U.N. ambassador under the Trump administration, spoke to that experience as well. "But the biggest one that bothers me, when I was at the U.N., we knew the intel. We knew the health of everybody in every country. They know what's happening to Secretary Austin. What bothers me is while our adversaries may know, our own president doesn't know. And these things continue to happen and it's why I say the one thing that keeps me up at night is what happens between now and Election Day. Because Biden is making America very vulnerable and putting us at risk," she added to complete her answer, once again making it about the president.
Later in the town hall event, Haley was also asked about former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and her remarks about January 6. The candidate's response got the notice of Karoline Leavitt, the spokesperson for MAGA Inc., the PAC supporting Trump.
"We obviously just got through the anniversary of January 6th," Baier pointed out, as he went on to ask if Haley agreed with Democrats and "people like... Cheney, who say former President Trump is a threat to democracy?"
"Oh, what I think is I think the American people can decide this," Haley offered. "And so what I have said is, he said January 6th was a beautiful day. I think January 6th was a terrible day. I hope we never see that happen again. And so that's the focus we should have."
Haley also said "I believe the American people and I trust the American people. And all these people who are trying to tell, whether it's Iowans or Granite Staters or South Carolinians, what they're going to do before they have even done it, everybody is tired of that."
Nikki Haley just refused to condemn Liz Cheney and Democrats for calling Trump "a threat to democracy"
— Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) January 8, 2024
A REAL Republican would have said... ACTUALLY, Joe Biden and Democrats are the REAL threat to democracy!
Nikki Haley is a WEAK LIBERAL.
Cheney, has been something of a favorite of the mainstream media as she continues to bash Trump and fellow Republicans, especially as she looks to sell her book that was released last month. She's been trending over X, in part for her Sunday appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation" in which she claimed "you can't count on these elected Republicans to defend the Constitution."
When it comes to a "threat to democracy," including how Biden and fellow Democrats are looking to get Trump kicked off of the ballot, as they've done in Colorado and Maine, Haley was later asked about that to. This time she was more direct in her response when Baier asked "should he be taken off the ballot? How do you think the Supreme Court will be receiving that?"
"No, he shouldn't be taken off the ballot, and the Supreme Court needs to rule quickly, before other states start to do this," Haley responded. The U.S. Supreme Court announced last Friday that they will take up the Colorado case, with oral arguments taking place on February 8.
"This is one of those don't open a door if you don't want to see what happens. This is a door we don't need to open. I will defeat President Trump fair and square. I don't need anybody throwing him off the ballot to do it," Haley also said.
There's been chatter about Trump picking Haley as his running mate, should he be the one to win the nomination, but moments like those above should give us serious pause about Haley being on the ticket. Trump would not only have to ask her, but she'd also have to accept the offer. Haley has also said that she is not running to be vice president.
The Trump campaign and MAGA Inc. have also been attacking Haley over immigration, which also came up during Monday's town hall event. Last week, Haley took issue with calling illegal immigrants "criminals," prompting negative responses from fellow Republicans, and said during a CNN town hall event that there are "some" indictments that Trump's "going to have to answer for." In a Friday statement, Leavitt offered that "Nikki Haley disqualified herself last night from the Republican nomination. Haley thinks that President Trump might be a criminal, but not the illegals invading this nation."
Haley herself on Monday also pointed out that then President Barack Obama sued her "for passing one of the toughest illegal immigration laws in the country" and noted "I appreciate all the attention President Trump is giving me. It is quite sweet and thoughtful of him. But he’s lying about it."
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