Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, Donald Trump’s centrist challenger in this year’s Republican primary, is urging him to “quit whining” about Vice President Kamala Harris and focus instead on “issues” — arguing “she’s not going to give an interview” in response to Trump’s past-week hectoring.
“The one thing Republicans have to stop doing: quit whining about her. We knew it was going to be her. She’s not going to give an interview. They’re going to hold out as long as they can. That’s their right,” Haley told Bret Baier on Fox News’ “Special Report” Tuesday.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t talk about what she believes in. And we should be getting out there and doing that.”
“The campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes, it’s not going to win talking about what race Kamala Harris is, it’s not going to win talking about whether she’s dumb,” said Haley, who also served as South Carolina’s governor.
“You can’t win on those things. The American people are smart – treat them like they’re smart.”
Haley urged Trump, who regularly blends policy critiques with brutal mockery of his opponents – including referring to Haley as “Birdbrain” when they faced off this year – to set aside his long record of successfully defining his opponents through name-calling.
“I take her at her word that she wants to ban fracking and kill a bunch of U.S. jobs,” Haley said.
“The target issues are the economy; the fact that Kamala wants to raise taxes; the fact that she’s taking money from those that didn’t go to college and has given it to those that did; the fact that when Afghanistan fell; the fact that when they lifted sanctions on Iran; the fact that when they, you know, actually said that they would help Israel and then pulled back. Where was Kamala when that happened? She was sitting right next to Joe Biden in the Situation Room.”
Republicans hope Harris will botch unscripted moments and end her prolonged “honeymoon” phase of mostly positive press.
“This administration is Kamala Harris’ administration,” Haley argued. “Everything that has happened is hers. So define her in that way. Talk about those issues.”
Trump campaign spokespeople did not immediately offer comment on Haley’s criticism.
Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, have called attention to the fact that Harris hasn’t given an interview since July 21 — when President Biden ended his candidacy and endorsed her.
Harris thus far hasn’t taken the bait and responded last week that she hopes to schedule an interview sometime within the next 24 days — by the end of August.
Trump trounced Haley in this year’s Republican primaries – with Haley taking only Vermont. They later set aside their differences as she endorsed him and spoke at last month’s Republican convention.
