Haley: I won’t kiss the ring if I lose GOP nomination to Trump
NIKKI HALEY said she has “no need to kiss the ring” or fall in line behind Donald Trump as she vowed to press ahead with her bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
In some of her spikiest remarks yet, the former UN ambassador criticised the “herd mentality” of the former president’s Republican supporters “who now publicly embrace Trump” but “privately dread him”.
Speaking in South Carolina, her home state, Ms Haley also became tearful as she described the emotional toll of being parted from her husband, Michael, who is a US army officer currently deployed in Africa.
The candidate’s campaign stop comes days before the South Carolina primary – which Mr Trump is predicted to win.
Allies of the 77-year-old have piled pressure on Ms Haley to drop out of the race but her refusal has angered the Trump campaign. Hitting back yesterday, the mother-of-two attacked Mr Trump for being too old, divisive and self-absorbed to be an effective leader.
“Trump and Biden are two old men who are only getting older,” the 52-yearold said. “Nearly 60 per cent of Americans say Trump and Biden are both too old to be president – because they are.”
Ms Haley said Americans deserved a choice and not a “Soviet-style election” which she described as only one candidate drawing 99 per cent of the vote.
“We don’t anoint kings in this country,” she said. “We have elections. And Donald Trump, of all people, should know we don’t rig elections.
“That’s why I refuse to quit. South Carolina will vote on Saturday. But on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I feel no need to kiss the ring. And I have no fear of Trump’s retribution. I’m not looking for anything from him,” she added.
Ms Haley, who served as governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, trails Mr Trump nationally by 60 points, according to polling and analysis by the website Fivethirtyeight.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Trump’s campaign released a memo arguing that the former president was on track to have the Republican nomination sewn up by March 12.
It said Ms Haley was “like any wailing loser hell bent on an alternative reality”.
Ms Haley previously branded Mr Trump “disgusting” for questioning the whereabouts of her husband.
“What happened to her husband?” Mr Trump asked the crowd at a rally earlier this month. “Where is he? He’s gone,” he added.
At the end of her speech in South Carolina, Ms Haley became emotional when she mentioned her husband.
She said: “I wish our children and I could see him tonight, but we can’t. The kids and I know why Michael went. He stepped up to keep us safe, and not just us, he stepped up to defend our nation’s freedom and our way of life.”