Nikki Haley said Monday that former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, should change the way they talk about women and instead focus on political positions.
Haley, a former South Carolina governor, was asked in an interview on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” why she believes Harris has a 14-point lead in the gap between women and men.
“I think it’s because Donald Trump and JD Vance need to change the way they talk about women. You don’t have to call Kamala stupid. She didn’t get this far, just by accident. … She’s You don’t have to talk about credentials or looks or the rest, he said.
Haley said that when Republicans call Democratic women “stupid,” “Republican women raise their backs, too.”
“The action is that we win with policies,” he added. “Stick to politics, leave all the other stuff. That’s how he can win.”
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment on Haley’s remarks.
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Trump has targeted Harris with ad hominem attacks since he entered the race following the fall of President Joe Biden. Speaking on a New Hampshire-focused podcast last week, Trump said Harris is not smart enough.
“Something is wrong,” Trump said. “Something is wrong, but we can’t go on for four years with a stupid president. We can’t do that. We had four years with a president who should never have been there, and we can’t have that.”
Despite saying earlier this year when she left the GOP presidential primary that she would not endorse Trump, Haley expressed her strong support for him in a statement at the Republican National Convention in July.
However, since endorsing him, Haley has not shied away from criticizing the former president, who resigned as governor to serve as US ambassador to the United Nations.
Haley said in an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that aired Sunday that she doesn’t agree with Trump’s style or communication strategy, but “there’s no question” that she would support him over Harris because of his policies. .
“Now, do I agree with his style? Do I agree with his approach? Do I agree with his communication? No,” Haley said. “When I look at the policies and how they affect my family and how I think they affect the country, I go back and look at the differences. I mean this — these are the candidates that we’ve been given.”
He later added, referring to Vance’s comments, “No, it’s not helpful to talk about whether women have children or not.”
Describing both candidates, Haley also said, “Neither is perfect. Neither is ideal.”
Earlier this year, when she was still running for the Republican presidential nomination, Haley commented on the legal cases Trump faced during the campaign cycle, saying the public would see him “seeing how he’s a victim.”
“I think we don’t need a strong leader to be that,” he said in January on NBC News’ Meet the Press.” “These lawsuits are going to continue one at a time. We will continue to see him in the courtroom and come out to hold a press conference. That’s not what you want the president to be. But we don’t want Russia to see more of that. That is not what we want China to see. And we don’t want Iran to see that.”
Haley also said Trump can’t get the country back on track.
“You can’t do that with him, and I don’t think it’s disrespectful, it’s that at 80 you’re in decline,” he said. “There are a lot of things that I don’t think he should be president for. That’s the whole reason I’m running. I think he’s in decline, and I think he needs to know to get out.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
