Haley steps up Trump criticism: ‘The most disliked politician in all of America’

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley stepped up her criticism of her former boss and fellow candidate, former President Trump, calling him “the most disliked politician in all of America.” 

During an appearance on Fox News’s “America’s Newsroom,” Haley told co-hosts Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino that she doesn’t see Trump as a viable option to be elected president, noting his decision to skip the first Republican debate. 

Trump announced Sunday that he would not attend Wednesday’s Republican debate in Milwaukee, also leaving open the possibility of skipping future presidential debates. Trump decided to appear instead as a guest on former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Biden’s camp came out and said they were worried about me winning the primary,” Haley said. “He has to debate, just like Trump needs to debate. If you want the American people’s support, you gotta show up. You can’t be absent.”

Haley noted that while she was proud to serve in his administration, Trump is going to “spend more time in a courtroom than he’s gonna spend on the campaign trail.” 

“We cannot allow a President Kamala Harris,” Haley told Hemmer. “We have to win that general election and in order to do that, you can’t do that with someone who literally — three-quarters of the American people don’t wanna see Biden and Trump run again, and the majority of Americans, he is the most disliked politician in all of America, that’s reality.” 

It’s been more than a week since Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted by a Georgia grand jury on charges tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. 

Trump, who announced his third presidential campaign last November, has been hit with three other indictments this year relating to his business dealings, handling of classified documents, and his actions in the aftermath of the 2020 election. 

Trump is expected to surrender at the Fulton County, Ga., jail Thursday.