Ambassador Nikki Haley joined me this AM:

Audio:

01-22hhs-haley

Transcript:

HH: I’m joined by Ambassador Nikki Haley. Good morning, Madam Ambassador. Welcome back to the Hugh Hewitt Show. Good to have you.

NH: Good morning, Hugh. Great to be back on with you.

HH: You know, this is a little bit like coming to the Bermuda Triangle for the last couple of weeks. We had Governor DeSantis and Governor Christie in the last three weeks, and they’re both gone. You’re down to the final two. It’s like the NCAA 64, the round of two. Are you feeling that way?

NH: Yeah, look, I mean, this is what we worked hard for. We started with what, 13, 14 candidates, you know, in the race. I had 2%. We wanted to be strong out of Iowa. We came out with 20%, and that’s…

HH: Uh oh.

NH: …what we wanted. Sorry. That’s what we wanted, and we got that. So now, we’re trying to be stronger in New Hampshire before we head to South Carolina. So we feel very good.

HH: Governor, let me ask. Are you committed to being in this race through at least the end of March regardless of what happens in New Hampshire and South Carolina? We have Super Tuesday on March 5th, 16 states, another 9 in the next two weeks, and I asked that of Governor DeSantis last week, and he told me was going to definitely be in through the end of March. And he’s gone now. What do you say?

NK: Well, I mean, look, we have always said that we’re taking it one state at a time. But I, we have definite plans of going, you know, right into South Carolina and right into Super Tuesday. You know, I did something that the other candidates didn’t do. I didn’t blow through my money. I actually saved it. And I save it and made sure that we focused on just making sure that we had enough to be on TV in each state, and we have done that. And we are now, we have enough to be on TV in South Carolina, and we’re going to do it right, and then we’re going to keep taking it one step at a time. And so look, I mean, this is a marathon. It’s not a sprint. We’ve only had one state vote so far, and I think if you look, there were, you know, 56,000 people in a state of 3 million voted for Donald Trump. That’s by no means a coronation. Now, we’re going to New Hampshire. They’re going to vote tomorrow, which is exciting. And then, we’re going to go on to my sweet state of South Carolina, and they’re going to vote, and then we’re going to go on further. And I think you know, that’s democracy. That’s exactly what makes America strong, and that’s what we’re going to continue to focus on. But we feel very good about where we are. We’re very confident about going into the long haul, and that’s what we’re going to do.

HH: You answered correctly in terms of having money, and that’s what I wanted to hear. You’ve got enough money to continue on through March and build momentum, no matter what happens?

NH: Hugh, I’m going to count it. And so you know, every state, I’m always making sure we have enough money for the next state, not for the one we’re in, for the next one. So I have been hoarding my cash and saving it. You know, we haven’t had the big buses. We didn’t do all the private flights during the summer and everything like everybody else did. We stayed in a lot of Garden Inns and Residence Inns, and that’s because the only thing that matters when you’re spending your money is touching a voter. And you touch a voter, you know, through TV, through radio, and in person. And so that’s what we’ve done. We’ve been very smart with how we spend it, and we’re spending every campaign dollar wisely.

HH: I want to frame this question fairly. If you don’t win, will you endorse the former President? And if you win, do you expect the former President to endorse you?

NH: Well, I have always said that I was going to support the Republican nominee, because anybody is better than a President Kamala Harris. I stand by that. But I have every intention to win this race.

HH: And are you ruling out completely No Labels?

NH: I have ruled, I have never talked to them. I have never been interested in that. I am a Republican and, through and through, and I intend to go and run on the Republican Party ticket and win on the Republican Party ticket.

HH: That was my understanding. Now Ambassador, the next question that I was going to ask at the NBC/Salem debate in Miami, we ran out of time, and I’ve saved it, because I want to ask it of you. And I remembered exactly how I was going to phrase it. I believe you are the first mil-spouse to ever run for the presidency. And a mil-spouse is a different thing that a lot of people won’t understand. It’s a spouse of a military member. I’m right about that. Do you get support from them on the road from that community because you are of that community? And while I ask that, how is your husband doing on his deployment?

NH: Thank you. Yes, I mean, the number of military families that show up to our events, I mean, it’s, we have a bond. There is a bond with military families. We know the sacrifice. We know the pride of our loved ones, but we also know it’s hard. It is very hard for the spouses, and it’s very hard for the member who serves. It’s hard for the kids that are involved in it, and so there’s a bond that we have. And I’m proud of each and every one, whether it’s a veteran who served and retired, or whether it’s a family who’s still active. We, I just, all I can say is it’s an amazing special bond that I’m proud to have. And yes, my husband, he is doing well. He is in an area that is quite sensitive or active at this point. But it’s, that’s pretty much every place in the world. So, but they’re doing great, and I’m proud of him. I really, he’s like my right arm. It’s hard not having him here. And I think for him, it’s hard for him not to be here going through this with me. But I love and support him, and he loves and supports me, and so that’s what gets us through it.

HH: I may, if we have time, I’ll come back to this. But I want to ask now about with a husband deployed, this really matters, I think, on a different level for you. American troops are under attack in the Middle East. al-Asad, the base in Iraq, was shelled. There was a serious injury. No one was KIA, but a serious injury. Two SEALs died. They were declared dead this weekend after a 10-day search. What do you make of President Biden’s response to the attacks on our troops? And why did we send SEALs instead of just blowing up the ship in the Red Sea where they were? I guess it wasn’t the Red Sea, where they were lost? Why not just blow up the ship with the Iranian arms on it?

NH: I mean, look, I, the only thing I can do to explain what’s happening with Biden is he’s just scared of his own shadow. He has yet to make a decision. He’s gotten everything wrong. And I’m not saying that as someone who’s running against him for president. I’m saying look at everything from Afghanistan to how that happened, but how he had a whole year before Russia invaded Ukraine. He did nothing. He did nothing to push back on China. The idea that we have how many, it’s well over 140 strikes on our men and women in Iraq and Syria? As a president, now only is your job to protect Americans, you’ve got to have the backs of your military. You know, as a military spouse, I want to know that our commander-in-chief is taking care of them. They’re sacrificing for us. What are you doing to fight for them? And he’s not doing it. And it’s because he’s more worried about upsetting Iran and Russia and China than he is about protecting our American military. And what they need to do and what they should have done a long time ago is he made a terrible mistake when he lifted those sanctions on Iran. We worked really hard when I was in the administration trying to make sure that we got out of the Iran deal, that we kept those sanctions high, that we held it accountable, because we knew every dollar that went to Iran went to a terrorist proxy, whether it was Hamas or Hezbollah or the Houthis, or any of those proxies in Iraq and Syria. We knew that’s what it did. No good came out of it. And not only did he lift the sanctions, he’s allowed China to spend billions of dollars importing oil from Iran. And now, we’re seeing them pay the price of it. And so the first thing you’ve got to do is you’ve got to get the sanctions back on. The second thing we need to do is we need to take out whatever facilities they are using to put, to do those strikes with. And then you go further and you take out these Iran military leaders that are making these decisions. You do that, and you punch hard, they get back on their heels. But right now, they smell blood in the water. They smell weakness. And they’re going to keep on doing this until you give them a good punch in the face and let them know that you’re not putting up with it anymore.

HH: Former President Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani when he landed in Iraq. Should a similar action now follow from the Biden administration on Iranian targets operating outside of Iran?

NH: You have to go after the people making these decisions to kill Americans. And that is, Soleimani was a good hit at that time. He was somebody who was really the orchestrator of everything that was happening. And by doing that, it left Iran completely flatfooted. And it took their breath away. That’s exactly what you have to do, is you have to go after the people making these decisions. If you look even what Israel is doing with Hamas, they’re going after the people who are making the decisions on the strikes there. That’s what leaders do. You go to the heart of the problem. You don’t go play around the edges and play footsie. You go to the heart of the problem and you make sure you do whatever it takes to prevent war and protect Americans.

HH: Madam Ambassador, do you think Iran wants regional war, Khamanei or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, because they are as aggressive as they have been since Ronald Reagan smashed them in the late 80s with Operations Praying Mantis? Do you think they want a war?

NH: They are very aware that they would not do well in a war. I think they’re very aware of all that. But what they do want and they’ve always wanted is they want us out of the Middle East. They don’t want us there. They want to control more of the oil. They want to make sure they have a strength in the region and that they have power. And so they want to do enough to push us out, to scare us off. That’s been their goal from the very beginning. But they know that they can’t handle a war with us. That’s why it doesn’t make sense why Biden’s not punching them once, because they know that once we wake up and once we punch, then they retreat. And that has yet to happen in all these years, even with all the military who’ve been wounded and died from them.

HH: Now when we come back from break, Madam Ambassador, I believe this race has been shaped by the indictments, by the invasion on 10/7, by the incompetence of the Biden administration, by the inflation that we’re living with, and by the appeasement that you just talked about. And we’ll cover all of those. Don’t go anywhere, America. I’m talking with Ambassador Haley. Ambassador Haley, by the way, do you think the Fed is going to lower rates between now and the election?

NH: I mean, look, I think that the problem is the Fed has been so political up until now. They never should have allowed all that cash to flow into America. If they were really trying to take care of a strong dollar, they would have told the President it was a bad idea. And then now, we’ve seen them play politics. I don’t trust them.

HH: I don’t trust them, either. I’ll be right back with Ambassador Haley.

— – – — –

HH: Governor, Joe Khalil of NewsNation tweeted out on Saturday, “Haley has been sharpening her attacks against former President Trump in the final days of her campaign. Multiple times last night and again today, Haley suggested Trump is too old and questioned his mental competency.” That was Saturday at 3:50pm. Yesterday on Face the Nation, you also judged this. Are you arguing that the former President is mentally incompetent?

NH: No, I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is that this is just common sense. If you have two men running for president that are in their 80s, you are going to get what you get when you’ve got two men running in their 80s. Look at Joe Biden two years ago. He is very much diminished from when he started, because this job is hard. There’s a lot of pressure. There’s a lot of late nights. You’ve got to make tough decisions, and it wears on you. And so, you know, this is tough if you’re 50 years old. It’s even tougher if you’re 80 years old, because you can’t do as much as you could when you were younger. That’s a fact. Any doctor will tell you that. And so what I’m saying is when he recently, I was asked about these gaffes that he had where he for some reason thought that I prevented security from going to the Capitol on January 6th, and he said it three and four times and went on for this whole thing about how I was responsible, and the fact he got confused and didn’t acknowledge the fact that it was actually Nancy Pelosi he was supposed to be talking about than me, or the fact that he said that you know, Biden’s going to get us into World War II, which I’m assuming he meant World War III. It doesn’t mean he’s mentally incompetent. It means that when you have someone that is at that age, you are going to see that kind of decline. And look at how fast it declined with Biden. But think about what America is saying. 70% of Americans don’t want Trump or Biden, and it’s not because it’s personal. It’s because they want a new generational leader. We look at Congress. It’s the most privileged nursing home in the country. We are looking at either having more of the same, or going forward with a new generation. That’s why you see so many young people excited about having somebody else, is because they don’t want to put their hands, their lives, and their future in the hands of people who are…

HH: Madam Ambassador, do you think President Biden is infirm? I think he’s frail, and I use the word infirm. I don’t think he’s got dementia or Alzheimer’s. I’m not a doctor. I just think he’s frail. Do you think President Biden is too infirm to do this job?

NH: I am very concerned about Joe Biden. It is why I’ve always said that the one we’re actually running against is Kamala Harris, because a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris. And you know, you can look back. I saw it. They were showing a clip recently of him in the debates when he was running. And Hugh, to see this difference in him just from then to now is, I mean, just truly, like…

HH: Do you think former President Trump is more fit than President Biden is, relatively speaking?

NH: Yeah, I think we can see that. Like you can see that he is, you know, he’s not moving slow like Biden. He’s not, you know, mumbling his words like Biden. But he is still someone who’s going to be 80. And I think that that’s the part that you have to look at, is I mean, really? Is America going to settle for that? But it’s more than that, Hugh. It’s not just about age. Look at the fact that the majority of Americans disapprove of Biden and disapprove of Trump. The majority of Americans see that both of these presidents put us trillions of dollars in debt, and our kids are never going to forgive them for it. Both of these presidents have focused on talking about the investigations that are against their families, their hurt feelings, and vendettas that they want to get taken care of. We need someone with no drama, no vendettas, that’s focused on the future. We’ve got to get our inflation down and get our economy back on track, and get that wasteful spending out of the way. We’ve got to get our kids reading again and go back to the basics on education. We have to secure our border with no more excuses. And we’ve got to bring law and order back to our country. And we’ve got to take these enemies on head-to-head and do everything we can to prevent war. And that’s not something you can do if you’re distracted. And that’s not something you’re doing if you’re slowing down, because we can’t afford that right now.

HH: Don’t go anywhere, America. I’m coming right back on the air across 475 stations with Ambassador Nikki Haley.

— – – – –

HH: It’s a two-person race, and it will be a two-person race for the Republican nomination until it is over between former President Trump and Ambassador Haley. Ambassador Haley, I want to talk about the indictments, the invasion, and the incompetence. Dan Balz in the Washington Post wrote yesterday, “The indictments consolidated Trump’s support rather than fracturing it. This was the biggest of the game changers.” Do you agree with that, that the indictments in Manhattan, Georgia, and the two sets of indictments by Jack Smith turned the momentum towards the former President?

NH: Yeah, I think that’s probably, that’s pretty accurate, because I think you look at the fact that he wasn’t doing as strongly as he would have been otherwise until all of a sudden we saw these court cases come against him. And some have been very political. Some, not. He’s going to have to defend himself. But think about this, Hugh. Right now, the day before the election, he’s in court. And you look at all the day he’s going to be in court, rightly or wrongly, whether he should be there, it doesn’t matter. The fact that he’s going to be in court instead of being able to focus on what to do to get our country going forward, that’s what this is about. Look, this is not personal for me. I voted for Donald Trump twice. I was proud to serve America in his administration. I agree with a lot of his policies. But I’m doing this, because I don’t want my kids to live like this. And I’m worried about the future. I know what these enemies can do, because I dealt with Russia, China, and Iran every day. I’m an accountant, and I see the fact that our economy, in two years, we’ll be paying more money on interest than we will on our Defense budget. I look at the fact that the average home buyer in America now is 49 years old. The American dream is leaving our kids. We don’t have time to be distracted, because that’s what our enemies are hoping will happen.

HH: All right. Now I want to ask about the broader world. Yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, there was a story on the Israel war of survival for its self-preservation. “Biden administration officials have begun to scale down their expectations for the war, to Hamas’ degradation as a security threat from its utter destruction.” I don’t really care what the Biden administration expectations are. I think they’re trying to weaken our ally’s resolve, Madam Ambassador. What do you think?

NH: I think it’s disgusting. I mean, I think it’s absolutely disgusting. I mean, don’t go in there and say and do all this bluster and say you’re going to help a friend and then get bored and say I want to get out, I don’t like this anymore. That’s not what being a friend is. But more than that, that’s not how you prevent war. Israel’s always been the tip of the spear when it comes to defeating terrorism. The fact that he’s giving up already, knowing that Iran is doing that to our troops in Iraq and Syria, knowing that Hezbollah’s continuing to get aggressive, knowing that Hamas has said they’re going to go back and do this again, it really defies logic. But it shows how tired Biden is. He gets tired easily of the issues that are there to protect Americans. That’s what I’m most concerned about. I told someone the one thing that keeps me up at night is what happens between now and Election Day.

HH: Oh, and what happens during a transition. Let’s close there, Madam Ambassador. The Chinese Communist Party is watching all of this. Do you think they have a target list? Are you afraid that they might do something beyond Taiwan? I know you’re worried about Taiwan, but beyond Taiwan, because we are at a low point of American national power and prestige?

NH: They have always wanted to dominate the global supply chain. They’ve always wanted to dominate the conversation in the world. They’ve always wanted to be the ultimately superpower. They spent years trying to plan for this. But they had a major setback with the elections in Taiwan. That was a win for democracy. That was a win for freedom. And it was a punch in the face for them at a time where they were doing a lot of intimidation by drones, by misinformation, and everything else. But we can’t take our eyes off of China. And that’s what Joe Biden’s doing. He’s sticking his head in the sand, and we’ve got to start waking up and realizing we have to treat them the way they treat us. They see us as an enemy. We’ve got to look at them as an enemy.

HH: Very last question, Madam Ambassador. There are negotiations underway about the border. I am against any deal that does not include construction of 900 miles of wall. Are you insisting on wall on the border?

NH: I don’t just want the wall. I want the wall. I want 25,000 more Border Patrol and ICE agents. I want to defund sanctuary cities. I’m going to go back to Remain In Mexico, and instead of Catch and Release, we need to go to Catch and Deport. This is unbelievable that this is the United States of America and we’re allowing this to happen. There’s, we’re acting like it’s September 10th, and we’ve got to remember what September 12th felt like. It only takes once.

HH: Madam Ambassador, thank you for your time. Keep coming back. Good luck tomorrow, and I know you’re going to work right through the finish line of the tape, and then on to South Carolina and Super Tuesday. Thank you for joining me. Keep coming back.

NH: Thanks. Go to www.nikkihaley.com.

HH: www.nikkihaley.com.

End of interview.