Haley on supporting Trump: Americans ‘are not going to vote for a convicted criminal’  

Former Ambassador to the UN and presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Sunday explained her pledge to support former President Trump as the eventual nominee, even if he is convicted in any of the criminal cases against him, by saying she did not foresee that scenario playing out.

In an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” Haley said she had faith in the American people not to vote for Trump if he’s convicted of any of the scores of criminal counts he’s been charged with in four criminal indictments.

“First of all, he’s innocent until proven guilty,” Haley said when asked whether she’d vote for Trump, even if he is convicted. “But you are implying that the American people are not smart. 

“The American people are not going to vote for a convicted criminal. The American people are going to vote for someone who can win a general election. I have faith in the American people. They know what they need to do,” Haley added. “And so, I think that, yes, I will support the Republican nominee always, and I will make sure that that person, we’re going to pick someone that’s going to beat a President Kamala Harris. Because we can’t have a President Kamala Harris or we’ll never get our country back.”

Ahead of the 2024 GOP primary debate late August, all candidates on stage were required to sign a pledge to support the eventual nominee of the party in order to appear on stage. During the debate, they were then asked to raise their hands if they would support Trump if he were the ultimate nominee, even if he were a convicted felon. The vast majority of candidates raised their hands. 

In the interview Sunday, Haley described this demonstration on stage in support of Trump as simply a reflection of a group of candidates who did not want to break their signed pledge to support the ultimate nominee.

“What you saw were candidates on that stage said that they would do exactly what they signed and pledged to do which is support the Republican nominee,” Haley said. “That’s what we are saying. I don’t think President Trump’s going to be the nominee. I think it’s going to be me. But I will tell you that any Republican is better than what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are doing.”