Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Sunday that she would pardon former President Trump if he is convicted of a federal crime, saying it is time to “move on.”
“I want to forgive Donald Trump because I think it’s important for our country to move forward,” Haley said at a Fox News town hall in South Carolina. “We have to leave the negative behind…”
Trump, the current Republican front-runner, faces multiple legal hurdles, with the latest developments in his civil fraud case in New York barring him from operating any business in New York and over $350 million. was fined.
President Trump last week asked the Supreme Court to postpone special counsel Jack Smith’s trial stemming from his 2020 election interference case, arguing that he has executive privilege to protect himself from prosecution. His lawyers filed the emergency appeal days after the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that Smith’s case is not immune from prosecution.
Haley says she has one more colleague to catch up with as she makes the final push for the South Carolina primary
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Sunday that she would pardon former President Donald Trump if convicted, saying it was time to “move on.” (Getty Images)
“It’s not in America’s best interest to have an 80-year-old president in prison and everyone upset about it,” Haley said.
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“I think it’s time we need to move forward and solve this problem,” Haley said.
During her town hall appearance, Haley criticized both Trump and the Republican Party multiple times while continuing to promote her platform.
Nikki Haley speaks on Fox News’ “Democracy 2024: South Carolina City Hall” on February 18, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“If you look at the starting points, there were 14 candidates in the race,” Haley said. “We’ve beaten a dozen guys. We’ve just got one more to catch up to. And through it all, there have been some naysayers, but that’s fine. I’m used to being the underdog.”
Haley also said Trump threw a “tantrum” after the New Hampshire results, where he won 43% of the vote.
Nikki Haley said President Trump threw a “tantrum” after the New Hampshire results, where he won 43% of the vote. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
“The night he got 43% of the vote, President Trump literally got upset and threw a tantrum,” she said. “And all he did was talk about revenge. And the next day he said anyone who supported me was banned from MAGA forever.”
Haley criticized the ages of Trump and President Biden, as Trump is 77 and Biden is 81.
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“Those two have put us in trillions of dollars in debt that our children will never forgive. And we really blame all of our problems on our own, running for president. Are we going to leave it in the hands of two 80-year-old men?’” Haley said. “We need people who have worked hard for eight years, are disciplined, and are ready to get the job done. You can’t grab it.”
Haley’s town hall will be held ahead of the Feb. 24 South Carolina primary against Trump.
FOX News’ Landon Mion and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
