Haley says GOP, Trump need to ‘quit whining’ about Harris

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley called on Republicans to get over Vice President Harris being the Democratic nominee, saying they should “quit whining” and focus on defeating her at the ballot box.

Haley told Fox News’s Bret Baier on Tuesday that she anticipated the switch from President Biden to Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee, which was the reason she made Harris a centerpiece of her GOP primary campaign.

“Republicans should not be surprised that we are now running against Kamala Harris. It was her all the time,” she said. “There was no way Joe Biden, in the condition that we saw him, could take on the stresses of a presidential election. So that was something I believed in then. It’s why I constantly referred back to her, because I knew that Kamala Harris was the person that we had.”

“And the one thing Republicans have to stop doing: Quit whining about her,” she continued. “We knew it was going to be her.” 

The Trump campaign appeared to be caught off guard by Harris’s rapid rise in polling when she entered the race, seizing on significant momentum to nearly eliminate former President Trump’s lead over Biden.

Haley also claimed Harris has so far refused major network interviews, but said that it shouldn’t be a worry of Republicans.

“She’s not going to give an interview. They’re going to hold out as long as they can. That’s their right. They can do it,” she said. “That doesn’t mean we can’t talk about what she believes. And we should be getting out there and doing that.”

Haley added, “You don’t need an interview from Kamala Harris. I take her at her word. I take her at her word that she wants to raise taxes for households over $100,000, that she wants to add a pharmaceutical tax and a health care tax.

“I take her at her word that she thinks that illegal immigrants should be able to vote and be given driver’s licenses. I take her at her word that she wants to ban fracking and kill a bunch of U.S. jobs. Take her at her word.”

Haley also remarked that Trump needs to pivot his messaging away from talk about crowd sizes and toward substantive policy if he wants to connect with voters.

“I think the campaign needs to focus. That’s the main thing,” she said. “Look, this is a winnable election, but you need to focus. Who is your target market? Your target market is suburban women, college-educated, independents and conservative Democrats. That’s your target market.”

Haley was extremely critical of Trump during her primary run, declaring the former president too old and not what America needs, though she has tempered her criticisms since. Haley endorsed Trump in May, potentially bringing with her a base of more moderate Republicans.