In a bold prediction earlier this year, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley , made waves by forecasting that if Donald Trump bagged the Republican presidential nomination, it would pave the way for Kamala Harris to become the next President of the United States. As the last-standing contender against Trump in the GOP primary, Haley’s remarks highlighted her concerns about the future of the Republican Party and the potential consequences of nominating Trump once again. Recently, Fox News’ Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier discussed Haley’s previous stance. MacCallum recalled, “You know, looking back at some of these soundbites from Nikki Haley on the trail, some of them sound quite prescient. Let me just play one more, and then let me hear a little bit about what you’re looking forward to this evening.”
As per Mediaite , Haley’s foresight was particularly shocking in February during an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, where she boasted, “When we look at the situation, we will have a female president. It will either be me or it will be Kamala Harris. We have to respect- 70% of Americans said they don’t want a Biden-Trump rematch. The majority of Americans disapprove of Trump and disapprove of Biden.” However, Bret Baier noted, “I think she spent a lot of time talking about Kamala Harris on the campaign trail …What I want to hear is where she thinks the party is now. She always talks about, even in the convention speech, unifying the party, getting behind former President Trump because they don’t have to agree 100% of the time.”
In an exclusive interview with CNN’s @JakeTapper , Nikki Haley weighs in on Kamala Harris jumping into the 2024 race and what it could mean for Donald Trump’s chances. See the full interview coming up on @TheLeadCNN at 5 p.m. https://t.co/SNUhQildgV pic.twitter.com/6JF0RMSvuF
— CNN (@CNN) July 25, 2024
In a recent appearance on Fox News, Haley doubled down on her stance, urging, “Republicans should not be surprised that we are now running against Kamala Harris. It was her all the time. There was no way Joe Biden , in the condition that we saw him, could take on the stresses of a presidential election. So that was something I believed in then. It’s why I constantly referred back to her because I knew that Kamala Harris was the person that we had. And the one thing Republicans have to stop doing: Quit whining about her. We knew it was going to be her,” as reported by The Hill .
The truth will set you free. Nikki Haley: “Remember what I say, with Donald Trump as our nominee, we will see a president, Kamala Harris. pic.twitter.com/NBOQo6ZNe7
— Popular Liberal 🇺🇸 (@PopularLiberal) July 26, 2024
Haley’s sharp critique of Trump’s campaign strategy was also evident as she emphasized the need for a pivot in messaging. She argued that Trump’s focus on crowd sizes and grievances was misguided and that the campaign needed to hone in on substantive policy issues to connect with key voter demographics. “This is a winnable election, but you need to focus,” Haley said, pointing out that suburban women, college-educated individuals, independents, and conservative Democrats were crucial to securing a Republican victory.
Despite her earlier criticisms of Trump, Haley ultimately endorsed him in May, acknowledging the need for party unity. However, her endorsement came with a caveat. She remarked, “I think the campaign needs to focus. That’s the main thing. Look, this is a winnable election, but you need to focus. Who is your target market? Your target market is suburban women, college-educated, independents, and conservative Democrats . That’s your target market.”