Nikki Haley warned that Republicans risk losing in the 2024 election if Donald Trump is the nominee.
She cited polling showing Trump only slightly ahead of or even with Biden, while she beats Biden by a wider margin.
“That’s making a point, that look, we are telling you, for all the Republican Party — we are in a ship with a hole in it. You can either ignore a hole, and go down with the ship, or you can acknowledge that we’ve got to look for a life raft,” Haley said.
Haley received around 40% of the vote against Trump in the South Carolina primary, which she said shows Trump would be a weak general election candidate.
She argued on CNN and a Minnesota radio show that Democrats want Trump as the opponent because anyone could beat him.
“There’s a reason that Democrats are salivating at the thought of Donald Trump,” Haley added. “Because they look at it, and they know anybody can beat Donald Trump.”
Haley further asserted the Democrats would replace the 81-year-old Biden with the 59-year-old Kamala Harris, leading to a President Harris if Trump is the nominee.
However, Haley provided no evidence for the claim.
“I’m telling you, the party that gets rid of their 80-year-old candidate is going to be the party that wins. Joe Biden is not going to be the candidate,” she said. “You’re going to find the Democrats go put someone younger in, and we’re going to be stuck with another loss and a President Kamala Harris. That is what will happen if Donald Trump is the nominee.”
“If it was about 2028, I would have been out a long time ago.”
“You have a candidate, that if I get out, is going to be a candidate that cannot win a general election,” Haley said.
