In an interview with host Kristen Welker on "Meet the Press," former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley revealed that she no longer feels obligated to support former President Donald Trump if he ends up winning the Republican nomination.
To participate in the Republican Party debates, Haley, along with the rest of the candidates, signed a Republican National Committee (RNC) agreement along with all primary participants pledging to support the eventual winner.
Throughout the campaign, Haley claimed she was willing to honor her commitment to the RNC, but during the interview with Welker she stated that she no longer feels obliged to fulfill it if she doesn't want to.
"So you’re no longer bound by that pledge?" Welker asked Haley.
"No, I think I’ll make what decision I want to make, but that’s not something I’m thinking about," responded the former ambassador to the U.N. "If you talk about an endorsement, you’re talking about a loss. I don’t think like that."
"When you’re in a race, you don’t think about losing. You think about continuing to go forward," she said.
Nikki Haley claims on Meet the Press that she's no longer bound by a pledge she made to support the Republican nominee pic.twitter.com/JMkYxtY02q
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 3, 2024
Although Haley argued her response around electoral competitiveness, she later said that the RNC is no longer the same as it was months ago and, therefore, she is no longer obligated to support Trump.
"The RNC is not the same RNC (…) now it’s Trump’s," Haley said.
The RNC has been subjected to major changes in recent months. Its chair, Ronna McDaniel, will resign from her position in the coming days forcing a complete restructuring of the committee with Michael Whatley, chair of the North Carolina Republican Party and Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of the former president assuming the presidency and co-chairmanship and of the committee respectively.
The restructuring, backed especially by Trump, comes as RNC fundraising has fallen dramatically over the past year. McDaniel has also faced harsh criticism.
Haley's new position differs significantly from the one she took months ago in an interview with Fox News when the former ambassador said she would support former President Trump because she did not want to see Kamala Harris as president of the United States.
"I would support him because I’m not going to have a President Kamala Harris," Haley said, referencing that Harris would become the country's leader if something happened to President Joe Biden in a second term.
Haley's statements come days before the “Super Tuesday” primary elections are held, where voters in 15 different states will go to the polls to choose their candidate.
Trump is expected to further solidify his advantage over Haley, virtually securing the Republican nomination.
