Nikki Haley 'highly' doubts Trump would support her as GOP nominee

we start this morning with Governor Nikki Haley welcome back to this week Governor good morning so I want to get to the campaign in a moment first I want to ask you about navali I saw your very strong statement like so many others putting the blame squarely on President Putin what would you be doing if you were president right now how would you make Putin pay for this I think it's important to stand with the Russian people who believe Naval was really talking for them I mean you look at this hero he was fighting corruption he was fighting um what Putin does and what did Putin do he killed him um just like he does all his political opponents and I think that's very telling but this goes back to the fact that we need to remind the American people that Vladimir Putin is not our friend Vladimir Putin is not cool this is not someone we want to associate with this is not someone that we want to be friends with this is not someone that we can trust and so when you hear Donald Trump say in South Carolina a week ago that he would encourage Putin to invade our allies if they weren't pulling their weight that's bone chilling because all he did in that one moment was Empower Putin and all he did in that moment was he sided with a guy that kills his political opponents he sided with a thug that arrests American journalists and holds them hostage and he sided with a guy who wanted to make a point to the Russian people don't challenge me in the next election or this will happen to you too we have to start waking up to what this means and that's why the importance of making sure that Ukraine wins is clear because we have to prevent further war and right now Putin is feeling more emboldened than he ever has why do you think Trump hasn't said anything about Naval yet nothing it's it's actually pretty amazing that he not only after making those comments that he would encourage Putin to invade NATO but the fact that he won't acknowledge anything with navali either he sides with Putin and thinks it's cool that that Putin killed one of his political opponents or he just doesn't think it's that big of a deal either one of those is concerning either one of those is a problem we've got to start seriously having a conversation in America about our national security we've got to start talking having a conversation about the fact that there's a war in Europe there's a war in the Middle East North Korea is testing intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the US China's on the March you've got Iran who's literally trying to kill our American soldiers and you've got Russians who are doing blinding satellites in space there's a lot going on this is not the time to talk about America hiding in a bubble and not doing anything with the rest of the world this is the time we should be strengthening our alliances and making sure we're putting up a strong front so that we can prevent further Wars from happening and and in fact this is coming as Putin is making gains in Ukraine and we see us Aid uh to help Ukraine in that war effort uh basically going nowhere right now uh in in Congress what do you what should speaker Johnson be doing I mean we saw the Senate uh pass with a M with a with a lot of Republicans voting yes uh we saw the senate pass Aid to Ukraine and Israel uh but he's not prepared to bring it up for a vote what should speaker Johnson do well I think first you have to talk about what should Joe Biden be doing and first of all the reason you're seeing America become more isolationist is at no point has Joe Biden had a conversation with the American people about why Ukraine is important at no point has he had a conversation with him with the American people about the terrorist activity that's happening with Israel and why Iran is so dangerous at no point is he talking about the threats of China and when you don't talk about those things with the American people they're going to distance themselves from it and so Joe Biden has failed on that front that has emboldened our enemies that's why you see them moving it happened after the fall of Afghanistan it is continuing to happen then they go and they see the other opponent running for for president and they see that he's doesn't worry about Putin invading Ukraine so what does Putin do he goes and now he's starting to put soldiers around the baltics he's moving in for the next era and let's remind the American people that Putin said once he takes Ukraine Poland and the baltics are next now he is putting soldiers around those countries just like he did Ukraine and if that happens those are NATO countries that immediately puts America at war that is what we are trying to avoid and that's why this Aid package is so important Ukraine's not asking for troops they're just asking for the equipment and ammunition to win this war they have a great fighting force we need to give them what they need so that they can win so that we can prevent having sending any of our military men and women to fight but it's not Biden that is stopping that Aid in Congress it's Republicans and and Biden traveled to Ukraine in the middle of the war Biden has given several Prime Time addresses on the question of Ukraine and the importance of aing Ukraine so I'm asking you about Republicans what should the Republican Speaker of the House who has the power to bring it up for a vote or not what should he be doing right now well I'll talk to you Republicans and Democrats because this is not the time to pick which side is right or wrong this is the time to get it right for America Joe Biden needs to be speaking more to the American people about what this package means and why it affects the American people and why it protects them from further War Congress needs to do their job and make sure that they go and do everything they can for National Security Congress is failing because they're making this sound like you have to choose between Ukraine and Israel or securing the Border order they are lying to the American people that's a false premise we can do both securing our national B securing our Southern border is priority number one but making sure that we help Ukraine and Israel is also about preventing War if we just supported Ukraine and Israel that's only 5% of our defense budget if we supported Ukraine Israel and secured the Border that's less than 20% of Biden's green subsidies so this is not about the American people having to choose either or this is about Joe Biden and Congress understanding that they need to choose National Security they need to choose preventing war and their job is to keep Americans safe and they have to communicate that to the American people and they are not doing that right now you mentioned uh Trump's extraordinary comments about NATO actually saying he would encourage Biden Russians to move on a NATO Ally that didn't uh pay its dues he says even though it's not exactly how NATO Works um what what you know this disregard for NATO though is longstanding with Donald Trump uh John Bolton who was his National Security advisor worked with you of course I said that back in 2018 at at a at a conference uh uh a NATO conference that Trump said that he was going to come out and announced the United States was withdrawing from NATO and had to be kind of talked down from it are you worried that if Trump is reelected it could actually threaten the NATO alliance I'm worried about a lot of things if Trump is reelected um that is one of them you know first of all understand that NATO is a 75e success story this Alliance keep in mind Russia has never invaded a NATO country because Russia has typically been very intimidated by this Alliance China's even intimidated by this Alliance so keeping NATO strong is important adding more friends to the fold is important this is not the time to leave Alliance this is not the time to side with a thug and not side with our friends who stood with us after 9/11 we have to make sure that we stand firm because when we stand firm with our friends our enemies stay it on their heels when we start to show any weakening of those alliances that's when our enemies move that's why we're seeing China on the March that's why we're seeing Iran want to build a nuclear bomb that's why we're seeing Russia start to move towards Poland and the baltics it is not something to play with when you talk about NATO this is something where we should be doubling down and saying that this Alliance will only get stronger and that's what I'll promise I do as president is we not only will strengthen NATO we will strengthen alliances with India Australia Japan South Korea the Philippines we will add to the fold this is about America having more friends not less friends as as you uh have talked about as well Trump is engineering a takeover of the Republican National Committee and he wants to make his daughter in law the co-chair I want to play something that Laura Trump had to say about the role of the RNC every single penny will go to the number one and the only job of the RNC that is electing Donald J Trump as president of the United States unit States so is that the one and only job of the RNC electing Donald Trump president of the United States is is that where every penny should go I I assume you don't agree with that I mean it should be a wakeup call for Republicans all over this country I mean you look at the fact that we saw in his campaign reports that he used $50 million of campaign contributions to pay for his personal court cases then he tried to get the RNC to name him the presumptive nominee we don't anoint Kings in America so when he got pushed back on that they started to walk it back now he's trying to control the RNC by putting his daughter-in-law as the co-chair and putting his campaign manager as the Director of operations now when you look at that the part I worry about is the RNC is now going to be the piggy bank for Trump's legal fees the RNC is almost broke already now you go and see he's looking for other avenues to pay his legal fees the RNC you can hang up winning the house and the senate or having any resources for us to win any other um races if all they're doing is thinking about how they're going to pay his court fees and this is what I'm talking about this is a fact I voted for Donald Trump twice I was proud to serve America in his administration but we have got to write the ship in this country 70% of Americans have said they don't want Donald Trump or Joe Biden to be their only choices 59% of Americans have said Donald Trump is too old and Joe Biden's too old to run for president we need a new generational leader that's not distracted by court cases that's not filled with vengeance towards our enemies that's not in the drama someone that goes and takes out the politics in our agencies someone who stops the wasteful spending in America someone who gets our kids reading again and goes back to the basics in education someone who secures our borders with no more excuses someone who brings Law and Order back to our country and someone who can make a strong America that prevents Wars that we can all be proud of that's what I am trying to do and that's what I think Americans want as we go forward and that's why I think this primary is so important so so we're we're just about out of time but I got to ask you you had said earlier in this process that you will support Donald Trump if he wins the Republican nomination but since you made that pledge um he has encouraged NATO he encouraged Russia said he would encourage Russia to do whatever the hell it wants uh with with a NATO Ally you have called him diminished unhinged unfit for office are you still making that pledge that you would actually support after all of that Donald Trump for president of the United States if he beats you for the Republican nomination I mean keep in mind I am running against him for a reason I'm running against him because I don't think he should be the right I don't think he's the right person at the right time I don't think he should be president the last thing on my mind is who I'm going to support the only thing on my mind is how we're going to win this the only thing on my mind is how we're going to make sure that we correct what's happening in America and we bring this country back together allow her to heal and move on in a strong way I not thinking about who I'm going to support in an election but you've already said that we are going to have a we are going to have a female president of the United States it will either be me or it will be kamla Harris and if Donald Trump is the nominee of the in for the Republican Party he will not win every poll shows that he will not win and we will have a president KLA Harris I'm not going to allow that to happen I'm not stopping I'm not going anywhere we're going to do this for the Long Haul and we're going to finish it does that mean you will not support him if he's the Republican nominee that means I'm going to run and I'm going to win and y'all can talk about support later right now you can ask him if he's going to support me when I'm the nominee you think he would do you think he would I highly doubt it all right Nikki Haley thank you very much for joining us we appreciate it hi everyone George Stephanopoulos here thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel if you'd like to get more videos show highlights and watch live event coverage click on the right over here to subscribe to our Channel and don't forget to download the ABC News app for breaking news alerts thanks for watching

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Keywords: Ambassador, Carolina, Democrats, Donald, George, Haley, Jonathan, Karl, Lara, Nations, Nikki, RNC, Republican, South, Stephanopoulos, This, Trump, United, Week, bills, campaign, fees, fraud, governor, legal, p_cmsid=2494279, p_vid=news-107326779, political, races, reelection, ruling, the, to

Id: 98kpeIW6pl4

Length: 13min 38sec (818 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 18 2024