Nikki Haley says America needs to move on from the ‘chaos’ and ‘negativity’ that engulfs her former boss President Donald Trump as the 2024 GOP presidential primary race gets under full swing.
She made the comments during an exclusive interview Thursday with DailyMail.com at an oil rig in Midland, Texas, hours before news broke of a seven-count indictment against Trump for allegedly mishandling classified materials and obstruction of justice.
Two of the former president’s top attorneys suddenly resigned on Friday morning and his White House aide Wault Nauta also has been indicted in the classified documents scandal.
When asked by DailyMail.com about why she would be a better president than her former boss Trump, Haley responded: ‘I think everybody sees it. You know, we can’t have any more distractions. We can’t have the chaos. We’ve got to leave the negativity behind.’
Haley, 51, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, 76, said the country needs a ‘new generational leader’ who will offer fresh solutions.
Nikki Haley served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under the Trump administration
Haley touted her own record as a two-term governor of South Carolina that turned the state’s economy around.
She also said her experience dealing with 193 countries at the U.N. is proof that she has the domestic experience and the foreign policy experience to ‘get America strong and proud again.’
‘I’m determined to do that,’ she added.
When asked by DailyMail.com if she had ever mishandled classified documents, as the Justice Department is investigating several of her presidential candidate rivals for allegedly doing, Haley replied: ‘No.’
‘No. I mean, we knew how to treat classified documents,’ she stated.
‘You get schooled on it right when you get there and told exactly how sensitive it is and you even get fined if you leave a classified document on your desk.’
Haley said that due to not being privy to the substance of the documents themselves, she didn’t want to weigh in further.
‘We don’t know what these documents are,’ she told DailyMail.com Thursday morning.
‘So I don’t feel like I should weigh in on that until we know exactly what the documents are and how classified they were.’
President Joe Biden is currently still under investigation by Special Counsel Rob Hur for his handling of classified documents found at his residence and at the Penn Biden Center. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who entered the 2024 race this week, was cleared by the Department of Justice last week for any wrongdoing related to documents found at his Indiana home.
Trump was at his Bedminister, New Jersey, golf club on Thursday night when his lawyers informed him he was facing the federal indictment. He posted the news himself to his Truth Social account, where he declared ‘I AM AN INNOCENT MAN.’
Trump’s primary rivals have started to react to his historic federal indictment in a number of ways – from criticizing the Justice Department to pushing him to drop out of the 2024 race.
Former President Donald Trump addressed the federal indictment news in a video from his Bedminster, New Jersey resort Thursday night. His Republican rivals started chiming in almost immediately
Trump is indicted in the classified documents case and will appear in court in Miami on Tuesday. Shown are the classified documents found in the August raid of Mar-a-Lago
Haley said Friday morning in a statement to DailyMail.com: ‘This is not how justice should be pursued in our country.’
‘The American people are exhausted by the prosecutorial overreach, double standards, and vendetta politics. It’s time to move beyond the endless drama and distractions.’
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – who has positioned himself as the GOP candidate most likely to criticize Trump – suggested Americans should wait and see what is in the indictment, which remains sealed, before making a judgement call.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called out the DOJ for bias against Republicans saying: ‘The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society.’
Pence said he was ‘deeply troubled’ by the DOJ’s move against his former boss in an interview with Hugh Hewitt.
Only former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said that Trump should drop out.
Trump was indicted in April in New York on charges related to his business and faces additional investigations in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia, that could lead to criminal charges.
During the tour of the Texas oil rig, Haley interacted with workers and discussed their day-to-day operations, challenges and learned about the constraints energy producers are enduring based on administration policies
The ex-South Carolina Governor said oil is ‘hugely important’ for national security and criticized Biden for ‘demonizing’ energy producers
DailyMail.com followed Haley on a tour of a massive oil rig just outside of Midland, Texas, on Thursday.
The ex-South Carolina Governor said oil is ‘hugely important’ for national security and criticized Biden for ‘demonizing’ energy producers.
‘I mean, look at this beautiful rig,’ she told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview following the tour, pointing behind her.
During the tour of the rig, Haley interacted with workers and discussed their day-to-day operations, challenges and learned about the constraints energy producers are enduring based on administration policies.
