COLUMBIA, S.C. — For those of you who may have missed it, former South Carolina Governor and US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley appeared on CBS Mornings on Thursday, the morning after she participated in the first GOP presidential primary debate.
Haley is the only female Republican running for president in 2024 and she leaned into her foreign policy experience during the debate with the six other GOP candidates Wednesday night.
CBS News' Gayle King and Nate Burleson interviewed Haley Thursday morning. Below is the transcript of the interview:
Gayle King: Nikki Haley was the only woman on the debate stage last night. People say she held her own. Ambassador, good morning to you.
Nikki Haley: Good morning, Gayle. It's great to be with you.
King: We're glad to have you here. You know, they're saying you're getting very good reviews this morning. They said. "Nikki Haley came out strong." It got very intense. What was your strategy going in?
Haley: The strategy was just to be honest with the American people and try and show them a vision forward. I don't think our country's ever been more divided than it is right now. And we have to really start focusing on what we're going to do -- and this isn't just about the economy, school boards or for four years. This is really about us having a vision for the next 10 and 20 years, and Americans are tired of all of the distractions and all of the noise and I think they want to start seeing government work for them again.
King: I think you're right. Americans are tired of all the noise but there was certainly a lot of noise last night.
Haley: Well, that's what a debate is.
King: Yeah. Very good point. You know, Donald Trump is scheduled to turn himself in today. It is his fourth indictment -- 91 felony counts so far. Is there anything that you've heard or seen that makes you question why he is still in this race?
Haley: Well, I think, look. Everybody has the right to run. But that doesn't mean that everybody has the right to win. And so I think the American people are going to decide that and I think that we have to have a new generational leader. It is time. We can't have, you know, someone in their late 70s and someone in their early 80s running for office when we've got real issues that need real solutions. I have long said that we need to have term limits. I have long said that we need to have competency tests for anyone over the age of 75. And I've long said that it's time for that senior class to move on and let others take over and start solving these real problems that are facing American families right now.
King: But Ambassador, you also said that if he's convicted, if he is a nominee, and he's convicted, you would still support him. What's your thinking on that?
Haley: Well, first I think I've made it clear that if he is convicted, I would pardon him because I think it's important that the country move on. We can't have a 77-year-old former president in jail and think that our country is not going to fall apart. So the focus really is making sure that the American people will decide this. I trust the American people. I know that they're gonna go for someone who's really going to take our country forward. I don't think that's going to be Donald Trump. I think he's going to spend more time in court than he's going to spend on the campaign trail. And I think when people understand they can't afford groceries, they can't afford gas that one in six American families can't pay their utility bill. Half of American families can't afford diapers. The inflation issue is real. And that's what American families want -- someone who's going to understand they need more cash in their pocket. They want transparency in schools, they want law and order on the streets. They want a secure border, and they want a national security that's going to keep Americans safe. And that's what I'm determined to do.
Tony Dokoupil: You know that list of issues you just put forward there they are top of mind for many Americans are feeling that economic pain. The best way to have an influence on the next four years of anyone's life is to vote in this upcoming election. The issue with that is a lot of people don't trust our system at the moment and the reason they don't trust our system at the moment is because the former President Donald Trump continues to say the last election was rigged. Putting aside the indictments, putting aside the weaponization of the Justice Department has many Republicans allege, do you think it's dangerous for democracy? Do you think Donald Trump is dangerous for democracy because he continues to deny a free and fair election that has happened? It's over?
Haley: Well, I think during COVID, we had some messy elections. There's no doubt about it. But I do think that Joe Biden won that election. But in South Carolina I said if you've got to show a picture ID to buy Sudafed, if you've got to show a picture ID to get on a plane, you should have to show a picture ID to protect the the integrity of the election process. And so, Voter ID is in South Carolina and I think a lot of people would like to see that. People need to trust their elections. You know, Donald Trump continues to talk about the past. I'm talking about the future. We the American people want to see government work for them again, they don't want to talk about a past election. They don't want to talk about whether it was stolen or not. They would have asked what the next president is going to do for them.
Dokoupil: Ambassador pardon me he continues to talk about that. And it does undermine trust in the system. Do you want him to stop?
Haley: I want him to acknowledge some things that really happened. He let Republicans and Democrats spend like drunken sailors and put us in the situation that we're in -- along with Biden. I look at the fact that he's now walking back from Ukraine, which is making America less safe. I look at the fact that he did good on calling out China on trade, but he didn't say anything about China buying up our farmland or stealing our intellectual property or sending fentanyl across the border. I have a lot of policy issues that I can sit there and talk about Donald Trump on, but the thing is, everybody's ready to move forward. And I know y'all love to talk about this past election. He's gonna say what he's gonna say -- that's who Donald Trump is. It always is. I'm not going to talk about whether an election was stolen. I'm going to talk about what real American families want to talk about and that's the fact that they're hurting right now. And we need to give them some relief.
Nate Burleson: Ambassador, with all due respect, I do believe that American people do need to know the truth about the last election. But let's move on to foreign policy. You were quick to point out Vivek Ramaswamy. His lack of experience in foreign policy while standing firm on your support for military assistance in Ukraine. Despite a recent CNN poll showing that 77% of Republicans say that Congress should stop funding. What would you do different if anything, than the Biden administration?
Haley: Well, I don't think I would give economic funding. I think that's really something the Europeans should give. I do think that we should make sure they have the equipment and ammunition that they need to win and do the military side of it. But what I said last night is let's keep in mind, the US defending Ukraine, that's three and a half -- less than three and a half -- percent of our defense budget. If you took a percentage of GDP, 11 European countries are spending more than us but what does this mean? We saw Russia and China hold hands before the Olympics and named themselves unlimited partners. A win for Russia is a win for China. Ukraine as a frontline of defense. We need to take Putin at his word. He said that if he defeats, if he takes Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next and that would create a world war. We are trying to prevent war. So I'm always going to speak the truth. You have to understand we can't be so narcissistic and American and think that we don't need friends. We do need friends. We need Ukraine to be the front line of defense. when it comes to Russia. We need Israel to be the front line of defense when it comes to Iran. We need to make sure that we are protecting Taiwan so that China doesn't go and continue to have its aggressive behavior against us because they've been planning war with us for years. So a smart foreign policy is national security. And what Vivek Ramaswamy showed last night, as he doesn't know anything about foreign policy or anything about national security.
Burleson: Ambassador Haley, we know it was a long night. So we do appreciate you waking up this morning with us. Thank you for joining us. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Haley: Thanks. We have a country to save. Go to nikkihaley.com.