Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley took aim at former President Donald Trump for causing "Republican chaos" amid the upcoming election this November.
Haley previously served as the United States ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration from January 2017 to December 2018.
The former South Carolina governor made her comments during a town hall hosted by Fox News in Des Moines, Iowa.
“When I said that I would never run against him, we hadn’t had the debacle in Afghanistan,” she said in reference to her 2021 comments. “We hadn’t had inflation go through the roof. And we didn’t lose the midterms by ridiculous numbers. And I campaigned for a lot of candidates, House and Senate, and governors races on those. And we were devastated when we lost the midterms.”
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Haley said she called the former President when she decided to run to tell him "it was the right thing to do," and to tell Trump she was "in it to win it."
"I told him then we needed a new generational leader," she said. "I told him then we needed to leave the negativity and the baggage behind. And I stand by that.”
The Republican presidential candidate noted she believed Trump was "the right president at the right time" during his tenure in office.
“I agree with a lot of his policies. But rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him. And you all know I’m right. Chaos follows him,” she said. “We can’t be a country in disarray and the world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. We won’t survive it."
"You don’t fix Democrat chaos with Republican chaos," she added.
During a campaign stop in Iowa late last week, Trump said Haley was a "globalist" and claimed she was "funded by Biden donors."
"Nikki Haley has been in the pocket of open borders establishment donors her entire career," Trump said. "She's a globalist. She likes the globe."
"I like America First," Trump added as the crowd cheered. "The people in this room like America First."
The former president appeared to reference Haley's campaign received funding from Democratic National Committee donors who have donated to Haley in an effort to stymy Trump's chances at securing the GOP nomination.
Haley has been speculated to be tapped as Trump's running mate in 2024, though recent remarks by the former president appear to suggest otherwise.
According to RealClearPolitics, Trump holds a commanding 51.7-point lead over runner up Haley. Fellow GOP candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis narrowly trails Haley by just under 1 point.
