Former Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and CBS host Margaret Brennan clashed on Sunday over Haley’s support for former President Donald Trump, with the former governor urging the focus to shift beyond “personalities.”
Haley suspended her campaign in March following a majority of Super Tuesday losses and endorsed Trump in May. Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Haley defended her support for Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris as Brennan questioned her about Trump’s recent promise to make in vitro fertilization (IVF) free if elected.
“It’s not a policy I support any more than it’s a policy of Kamala Harris to remove private health insurance or Medicare for all. Look, at the end of the day – ” Haley began.
“But this is the head of the Republican Party. This is the Republican nominee,” Brennan jumped in.
Haley pushed back against the host, explaining how Democratic policies would be more detrimental to the U.S. and detailing how she would address IVF.
“I know, but Margaret, you also have to talk about the head of the Democrat Party. Don’t just look at one and not look at the other. When you talk about Medicare for all, when you talk about removing private health insurance, you might as well be Canada. You might as well look at socialist health care,” Haley continued. “We never want to get to that point, cause you’re not going to get IVF or anything else – cancer drugs or anything else when it comes to that.”
“When you look at health care, we need to know, both of my children were products of fertility, we want that option to be available to everyone. But the way you do it is you don’t mandate coverage. Instead, you go and you make sure that coverage is accessible and you make sure that you’re doing everything you can to make it affordable,” Haley said.
Brennan then asked if Haley would “still urge people who identify as Republican to support policies” she says “are not conservative.”
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“I don’t agree with Trump 100% of the time. I don’t have to like him or agree with him 100% of the time to know that life for Americans would be better under the policies where we have strong immigration, where we have law and order, where we have an economy where we can look at opportunities, where we’ve got national security that is strong. I don’t need to sit there and like someone to decide those policies are better. I do look – ” Haley said.
Brennan interrupted Haley, noting her decision was like “grading on a curve,” to which Haley fired back and asked how Americans would be better off with another four years under Harris.
“It’s not grading on a curve. I think it’s how you look at it. Because I would ask you, how are people going to be better going through the next four years like we have the last four years?” Haley questioned. “Any American will tell you, their life is not better. So our goal is, how do we make life better? Instead of making it about the personalities, can we not start saying what do we all agree about on the policies? Because there’s some serious policy concerns.”
Since Harris became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid on July 21, major swing state and national polls have tightened between the two parties. Data from RealClearPolitics shows Harris leading Trump by 1.4 points nationally, with 48.1% support for Harris and 46.7% for Trump.
Featured Image Credit: Michael Stokes
