Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Friday said former President Donald Trump should not interfere with Congress trying to pass a border deal.
"The problem is, Congress should have stayed there [in Washington, D.C.] and not left until they came out with a strong border bill. But instead they went home on vacation," Haley said at a rally in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.
The former U.N. ambassador added: "But the other side of it is Trump went and told Congress not to pass anything until after the general election, because he said it would hurt him.
"We can't wait one more day. We have got to secure our borders. Congress needs to get in a room [and] figure it out. Pass a strong border bill. And Trump needs to stay out of it. Period."
Newsweek reached out to a representative for Trump via email on Friday night for comment.
The Context
Earlier this month, an immigration and foreign aid bill failed to pass the Senate after only four Republicans voted for it. The Senate later passed a standalone supplemental aid bill that includes aid to Ukraine and Israel, but it's expected to meet more opposition in the Republican-led House of Representatives.
Before any text for the border deal was released, Trump made it known that he did not want Congress to pass any border security legislation that could look like a victory for President Joe Biden before November's presidential election.
What We Know
During two stops in South Carolina, Haley criticized Trump while trying to make the case that she is the Republican candidate best suited to defeat Biden.
"If we can't win a general election, we get nothing. And Donald Trump cannot win a general election," Haley said at a Friday afternoon rally in Moncks Corner, South Carolina.
The Views
Haley's comments regarding border legislation come a day before voters are set to cast their ballots in the GOP primary in South Carolina. Saturday's primary is largely viewed as Haley's last chance to pull off a win ahead of "Super Tuesday" voting on March 5. Danielle Vinson, professor of politics and international affairs at Furman University, previously told Newsweek that while Haley may be able to stay in the race if she loses Saturday's primary, she will definitely need to garner more support than in the past primary votes.
"If she falls below 40 percent, I don't really see a rationale for continuing other than waiting around and hoping Trump's legal problems will overtake him—which seems unlikely at best," Vinson said.
Haley earned about 19 percent of the vote in the first primary ballots cast in Iowa last month. In New Hampshire a few weeks later, where Governor Chris Sununu endorsed her, Haley gathered 43.3 percent of support. Trump won both races by at least 10 percentage points to the next closest candidate.
What's Next?
Though Haley once served as governor of South Carolina, preliminary polling shows Trump leading her by double digits. While speaking in Moncks Corner, she called on her supporters to turn up to voting sites on Saturday.
"Don't complain about what happens in a general election if you don't vote in this primary. It matters," Haley said.
Trump shared a similar message during a rally he held in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
"Get out and vote tomorrow," the former president said. "We're going to win this state and then we're going to tell crooked Joe Biden, 'You're fired.'"
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
Jon Jackson is an Associate Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more
