Nikki Haley town hall five days from NH primary

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley answered tough questions from voters days before the New Hampshire primary, saying pardoning former President Trump would be “healing for the country.”

Haley asked a series of tough questions at City Hall Thursday night, just five days before Granite voters head to the polls for the Republican primary.

President Trump says Nikki Haley has 'no chance' ahead of New Hampshire primary: 'Maga isn't going to be with her'

Trump's pardon will 'heal the nation'

In Haley's town hall on CNN, the former U.N. ambassador said she would issue a pardon if Trump were elected, but only if a leading Republican candidate was convicted.

“The last thing we need is an 80-year-old president in prison,” Haley said. “It will only further divide our country.”

“This is no longer a question of whether he is innocent or guilty,” Haley said. “This is a question of fact. How do we bring the country back together?”

Haley said she is “determined” to resolve the “division” and “chaos” and believes President Trump's pardon will “fix everything.”

“And I think that will be healing for this country,” Haley said.

America

Haley received backlash from CNN when she answered a question about whether America is a fundamentally racist country.

Telling black and brown children that they live in a racist country “immediately tells them they don't have a chance,” she said.

Town hall moderator Jake Tapper countered, “You're talking about American ideals, but America is institutionally based on many racist precepts, including slavery.”

Haley said that while America's ideals have existed since the nation's founding, certain areas that fall short of the Constitution's intent need to be corrected.

“When you look at the saying that all human beings are created equal, you think the intent was to do the right thing. Now, did they have to modify that along the way? ? Yes, but I don't think that was ever the intention. “We were going to be a racist country. The intention was that everyone was created equal,'' Haley said. said.

Even though it has taken decades to correct certain aspects of this country, Haley said she cannot believe that this country is based on racism.

marijuana legalization

Another moment for Haley was when she was asked about marijuana legalization, but Haley said it was a state-by-state issue. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

Another great moment for Haley was when she was asked about marijuana legalization. Haley said this is a state-by-state issue, but she would not commit to substantially delaying the program.

Ms Haley said she would “cooperate with the scientists” on legalizing marijuana, adding that she believed it was “obviously not in the same league as heroin”.

“But when we're looking at legalizing this, I also want to let the states decide that,” Haley said.

“It's something that should be as close to the people as possible,” she added.

“Full-scale'' child tax deduction

Haley also said she is “in favor of a child care tax credit for everyone” and that the tax credit needs to be “across the board” to be “fair.”

Haley also said, “I support child care tax credits for everyone.” (Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

If you’re going to do it, do it across the board and make sure it’s fair,” Haley said. When it comes to programs, the goals I like to consider are: What are we doing to improve our programs? ”

“What are we doing to make their lives better?” Haley went on to discuss her efforts as South Carolina's governor to get people off welfare and into jobs. was cited.

Freedom of speech for Americans, not foreign actors

Haley was also asked about her thoughts on social media companies identifying online users by their real names as a national security concern.

The former United Nations ambassador said he would “always fight for freedom of speech.” She faced widespread criticism for her own comments, but she defended her own remarks Thursday. She said she was talking about “when it comes to our technology companies, are our social media companies accountable?”

“What I think they should do is they should show us the algorithm,” Haley said. “They should be completely transparent, so you can see why they promote what they do, why they see what they see, all of that. That's the landscape of business transparency. is.”

Haley was also asked about an idea she floated for social media companies to identify online users in the name of national security. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

“I'm not saying Americans have to reveal their names. What I'm saying is that there are millions of foreign bots with no humans behind them. When I was at the United Nations, Russia, China, and Iran knew: “This is the cheapest form of war.'' Millions of bots are spreading disinformation and sowing division in our countries.'' And they're doing this to spread harmful things to young teens.”

“And what I'm saying is that social media companies have to do something about foreign bots,” Haley continued. “I'm always going to fight for free speech for Americans, but I'm not going to fight for free speech for Russians, Iranians, Chinese people. That's what's happening right now.”

New Hampshire Democrat

Haley was also asked about the support she has received from Democrats in New Hampshire. Some 4,000 New Hampshire voters have switched their registration from the Democratic Party, and some speculate this could help Haley in the primary.

The former governor said he sees some independents aligning with him, saying, “Some Democrats are saying they want to support us because they're not happy with Joe Biden.” Stated.

“I want everyone here to remember that the Republicans lost the last seven of the eight popular votes for president,” Haley said. “That's nothing to be proud of. We should want to win over the majority of Americans.”

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“The problem is, if you want to win over the majority of Americans, you have to make sure that as leaders you don't decide who's good and who's bad, who's right and who's wrong,” Haley said. said.

“It brings out the best in people and pushes them forward,” she added.