Nikki Haley says she doesn’t agree with Trump calling political opponents “vermin.”

Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who is rising in the polls in the Republican presidential race, criticized former President Donald J. Trump for promising to exterminate his political opponents like “pests.”

“I disagree with this statement,” Ms. Haley said at a town hall event in Newton, Iowa. “No more than I agree when he said Hezbollah was smart, or any more than I agree when he hit Netanyahu when his country was on its knees after all those atrocities.”

Ms. Haley’s response, which came six days after Mr. Trump made the comments at a Veterans Day speech in Claremont, N.H., was prompted by a question from Daniel Beintema, 63, a supporter of Ms. Haley, who was concerned about the spreading “hate and division” and how little attention Trump’s comments received from Republican officials.

Trump’s rhetoric — especially his use of the word “vermin” — was condemned by President Biden’s campaign and other Democrats, as well as by historians, for its echoes with the dehumanizing rhetoric of fascist dictators like Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

“When someone who is a leader in the Republican Party uses words of division and hatred and calls people vermin – and just because they oppose what you do or where they come from, who they are,” Mr. Beintema said in an interview after the Republican Party. the event. “And the Republican Party backed away from that and said, ‘Well, I’m not going to comment on that.’ I think that’s important.”

The town hall exchange reflected the careful criticism of Mr. Trump that had permeated Ms. Haley’s stump speeches on the campaign trail. She has focused on the former president’s erratic and scandal-prone nature, something she said would pose a risk to both Republicans in the election and in the Oval Office.

“Look at the elections last week or two weeks ago, we lost again. That is chaos,” Ms. Haley said in an address to voters on Friday. She added: “We can’t let the world burn and deal with chaos. We just can’t do that. We will not survive.”

The critical comments also come as Ms. Haley is rising in the polls in Iowa and other early voting states. Voters who plan to support her in Iowa have said it is because of her foreign policy experience, her strong performance in the debates and her commitment to speaking what she calls “hard truths.”

“She is willing to avoid difficult topics that might offend people who would show up for her,” said Mark Timmerman, 62, a resident of Clive, Iowa, who traveled to visit Ms. Haley in Ankeny on Friday. “She will tell the truth.”