GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley claimed corporate press outlet Fox News wants to "coronate" former President Donald Trump as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
Haley sparred with Fox & Friends co-hosts Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade and Ainsley Earhardt during a Tuesday morning appearance on the network.
Earhardt noted Trump led a historic 30-point victory over fellow GOP contenders in last week's Iowa caucus and held a commanding lead over Haley in New Hampshire's polling. The Fox & Friends host, who noted she was from South Carolina, asked Haley if she would continue her presidential bid into her home state's primary if she didn't fare well in tonight's New Hampshire primary.
"We love you there, we love Tim Scott there," Earhardt said of the South Carolina Senator. "But Donald Trump is also loved there."
Earhardt cautioned Haley from losing in the South Carolina primary, adding, "We'd love to see you in some other capacity down the road."
"I won't get out if I lose today," Haley said. "We've had 56,000 people vote for Donald Trump, and you're gonna say that's what the country wants. That's not what the country wants."
Haley said New Hampshire deserved to have the "power of their voice," also noting she won South Carolina twice during her tenure as governor of the state between 2011 and 2017. Haley also said she had voted for the former president during his 2016 and 2020 presidential bids.
"I think he was the right president at the right time," she continued. "I don't think he's the right president going forward."
"I'm gonna fight just as hard in South Carolina as I did before," Haley added.
Kilmeade reiterated Earhardt's concern over Haley's polling, to which the presidential candidate said her team had already bought ads.
"I don't care how much y'all want to coronate Donald Trump," she said. "The end of the day, that's not what Americans want. Americans want a choice, and we're gonna give them that choice."
Kilmeade noted Haley's use of "coronate" and asked why she believed the network was "the enemy."
"Look at the media saying, 'This is Donald Trump's to have,'" Haley said. "Look at the political class all coalescing and saying, 'Everybody needs to get out.'"
"That's not democracy," she added. "When have we ever had down to two people in New Hampshire, and you say, 'Oh, it's over.' We don't do that."
Haley said she was running because she loved America and didn't want her children to live under "chaos."
"I want them to know they can buy a home, I want them to know that they can have a future," she said. "I want people to feel good about America. Right now, people feel chaos. They feel all kinds of division back and forth. That's not what they want. They want someone to go back in there and work and show them."
"When I win, I will spend every day proving to people that they made a good decision," she added.
Kilmeade pushed back asking if she would support Trump in the general election, to which Haley said she would support the Republican nominee.
