Nikki Haley, who served in former President Donald Trump’s administration and ran against him to be the GOP presidential nominee in 2024, warned that his campaign could be turning off voters in the middle and particularly women, pointing to his rally at Madison Square Garden in New York over the weekend. 

“You’ve got Americans who are absolutely going to vote for Trump, you’ve got Americans who are absolutely not going to vote for Trump and then you’ve got a percentage in the middle who like Trump policies but don’t like his style,” Haley said in an interview on Fox News on Tuesday. “That is what they need to focus on.”

What You Need To Know

  • Nikki Haley, who served in former President Donald Trump’s administration and ran against him to be the GOP presidential nominee in 2024, warned that his campaign could be turning off voters in the middle and particularly women, pointing to his rally at Madison Square Garden in New York over the weekend

  • In her interview with Fox News, Haley urged the Trump team to focus on issues such as the economy, immigration and national security, adding that she herself, who ramped up criticism of her one-time boss toward the end of her presidential bid, is supporting him because she is choosing “policy over personality"
  • Haley, who endorsed Trump after dropping her presidential bid, has yet to hit the campaign trail with the former president despite netting thousands of votes in GOP primary elections; She said the campaign knows she is on "standby" but it is his team's decision whether they ask for her help

  • Kamala Harris' campaign launched a massive organizing and outreach effort to moderate Republicans, particularly those who supported Haley in the primary, and the vice president has hit the campaign trail with well-known figures in the GOP who are critical of Trump, such as former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger
 

The former South Carolina governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations went on to specifically reference Trump’s campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, which the former president has since referred to as a “lovefest” despite widespread criticism of some comments made by speakers at the event. 

“This bromance and this masculinity stuff, it borders on edgy to the point that it’s going to make women uncomfortable,” Haley said. “That is not the way to win women.” 

The event, which drew a large crowd in blue New York, has dominated the political world during the last full week before election day, specifically for remarks made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe about Latinos and Puerto Rico, the latter of which he referred to as a “floating island of garbage.” 

Haley called the comments “harmful” and criticized the Trump campaign for allowing a comedian “that separates us” to speak at the event in the first place. 

“This is not people being sensitive – I mean, Puerto Ricans, that’s personal for them,” Haley said, before advising the former president to go tell Puerto Ricans and Latinos “how much they do value them.”

The Trump campaign has sought to distance itself from the comments. Despite his praise of the rally holistically on Tuesday, the former president told ABC News he does not know the comedian who made the comments and didn’t hear them. 

In her interview with Fox News, Haley urged the Trump team to focus on issues such as the economy, immigration and national security, adding that she herself, who ramped up criticism of her one-time boss toward the end of her presidential bid, is supporting him because she is choosing “policy over personality.” 

“I don’t agree with Trump 100% of the time but I don’t agree with [Vice President] Kamala Harris on anything,” Haley said. 

Hundreds of thousands of GOP voters across the country cast ballots for Haley in the Republican primary elections earlier this year, including more than 150,000 in the biggest swing state in the nation – Pennsylvania – after she dropped her bid for the White House in March. 

Haley has since endorsed the former president and spoke in support of him at the Republican National Convention in July. 

On Fox News, she mentioned she is set to campaign on behalf of GOP candidate Dave McCormick, who is locked in a battle for a Pennsylvania Senate seat with Democratic incumbent Bob Casey, this week. But the former South Carolina governor has yet to hit the trail with Trump. 

“They’re very aware that we’re on standby, they know that we would be there to help,” Haley said of the possibility of campaigning with Trump. “I’ve helped with some fundraising letters and text messages and those types of things.”

“But look, we’re on the same team, it is their campaign’s decision on what he needs in these last final days,” she added. “It does not bother me at all.” 

She said that the last time she has spoken to Trump was in June. 

Harris, Trump’s Democratic opponent, has made clear she is looking to bring those who voted for Haley over the former president in the primaries and other moderate Republican voters who may be put off by Trump into her camp. 

Her campaign launched a massive organizing and outreach effort to moderate Republicans, and the vice president has hit the campaign trail with well-known figures in the GOP who are critical of Trump, such as former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. In the final weeks of her campaign, she has honed in on the message that she would be a president for all Americans.