Nikki Haley gave a surprising take on Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday as she insisted she was “on standby” to correct an “overly masculine” campaign.
Haley, who received more Republican primary votes than anyone challenging Trump, has endorsed the former president but has yet to appear before him. She will be in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, but for Senate candidate Dave McCormack.
In an interview Tuesday, she didn’t mince words about how the controversial event in New York went down, especially comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico as an “island of trash.”
“This bromance and this masculinity thing, it’s bordering on tense to the point where it’s going to make women uncomfortable,” Haley said.
She added that Republicans were right to denounce the jokes, saying it wasn’t about being “overly sensitive.”
Nikki Haley was heavily critical of Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday and says she is ready to ‘stand by’ to correct what she says is an ‘overly masculine’ campaign
Haley, who received more Republican primary votes than anyone challenging Trump, has endorsed the former president but has yet to appear before him
“This is not the time to have anyone criticize Puerto Rico or Latinos,” said Haley, the former ambassador to the U.N. under Trump.
Haley is also concerned about how Republicans are communicating their message to women.
“I think it’s harmful,” she said. ‘There is no reason to have a comedian at an election campaign event with so many election campaign events, so much energy and so much good going on. Why a comedian separating people?’
She cited an ad from an Elon Musk super PAC calling Kamala Harris the c-word, and a corny joke from Hinchcliffe’s set that planned to call the vice president the same word.
‘That’s not the way to win women. This is not the way to convince people who are concerned about Trump’s style,” she said.
Haley says Harris is up for grabs by choosing liberal Tim Walz as his running mate over moderate Josh Shapiro.
However, she said she still fully supports Trump, after saying on her radio show earlier this week that she is “standby” for him.
“There is no bad blood between me and the president, we want Donald Trump to win. If they need something, they call and ask me. I’m a team player.’
In an interview Tuesday, she didn’t mince her words about how the controversial event in New York went down, especially comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico being an “island of trash.”
Haley cited an ad from a super PAC run by Elon Musk that called Kamala Harris the c-word, and a lame joke from Hinchcliffe’s set that planned to call the vice president the same word.
Haley, the former ambassador to the UN, threw her support behind former President Trump in May but was absent from the campaign trail – while admitting their personal relationship remains frosty.
However, several media outlets have reported that the Trump camp is trying to help Haley strengthen the former president’s position toward women.
Polls show Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump among women over 50 by more than any presidential candidate since 2016.
The survey found that 54% of women in that demographic group plan to vote for the vice president, compared to just 42% for Trump.
This represents a huge improvement over Joe Biden, who led Trump by just three points among women over 50 in January.
The numbers are also better than Hillary Clinton’s numbers in 2016, who won 48%-40% of the vote over Trump.
Haley said in September that she is willing to go the extra mile to help Donald Trump if he wants to call on her help despite their ups and downs past.
She was the last woman to oppose Trump in the 2024 primaries, with a crowded field of Republicans seeking to unseat the former president for a shot at the White House. She often spoke out against Trump and expressed her grievances and disagreements.
Previously, Haley served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations for almost two years from January 2017 to December 2018.
“He knows I’m on standby,” Haley said of Trump when asked if she’ll be heading out to campaign for the Republican candidate.
“I spoke to him in June,” she told CBS Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan. “He knows I’m ready if he ever needs it.”
Haley said she was not asked to run in the general election when pressed when Trump reached out.
‘That’s his choice. He can, you know, whatever he decides to do with his campaign, he can do that,” she said. “But when I called him back in June, I told him I supported him.”
“I think the teams have talked a little bit, but no questions have been asked yet,” the former South Carolina governor noted. “But you know, if he asks, I’m happy to help.”
Haley released her delegates to Trump after withdrawing from the primaries following major losses on Super Tuesday. By winning the primaries in Washington, D.C., and Vermont — both very blue areas where even Republicans lean more left — Haley became the first woman to win a Republican primary at the state or territorial level.
She supported Trump and said in May that she would vote for the former president in November.
