NIKKI HALEY LASHES OUT AT TRUMP, SAYS HE ‘LET US DOWN’

WASHINGTON: Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, lashed out at her one-time boss, Donald Trump, saying he “let us down” and that Republicans should never have followed him.

Haley’s remarks were seen as constituting a major break by a senior Republican with the former president, who might be contemplating another run for the White House if he is acquitted in the ongoing impeachment trial - which he is expected to be.

“We need to acknowledge he let us down,” Haley said in an interview to Politico, just hours before Trump’s lawyers began his defence in the impeachment trial. She was referring to the January 6 storming of the US Capitol by a mob of Trump’s supporters.

“He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him,” said Haley, who was the first Indian-american to hold a cabinet rank position, as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Republican leaders have largely rallied around the former president, unwilling to antagonise him and his supporters.

“Never did I think he would spiral out like this,” Haley said. “At the time, I didn’t think that was dangerous,” she said when asked if she should have spoken sooner.

Haley, however, thinks the impeachment was a “waste of time”. “I think he’s going to find himself further and further isolated,” she said when asked how else to hold Trump accountable. Haley also believes Trump will never run for office again. “I don’t think he’s going to be in the picture,” she said. “I don’t think he can. He’s fallen so far.”