Haley is challenged on policy views at the town hall event and doesn’t back down
Nikki Haley was repeatedly challenged Monday over policy views that differ from her more conservative rivals during an hour-long town hall event on Fox News, but she stuck to her guns — calling Donald J. Trump an agent of chaos and Ron DeSantis a liar. .
With the Iowa caucuses a week away, Ms. Haley still has a lot of ground to make up against the front-runner and former president, Mr. Trump, but a second-place finish ahead of Mr. DeSantis, the governor of Florida, could leave her in trouble to take. New Hampshire, where the first primaries of 2024 will take place.
Ms. Haley has consistently attacked Mr. DeSantis, but on Monday evening she also took some swipes at Mr. Trump, saying he “misled” the United States’ international alliances, lied about her record and stirred up unrest with his presidency. .
“Chaos follows him, and we cannot be a country in disarray,” she said before a live audience in Des Moines, which greeted the jab with applause.
Ms. Haley took pointed questions from Iowans and Fox News hosts about her pledge to negotiate a compromise on abortion, increase U.S. support for Ukraine and raise the retirement age to prevent Social Security and Medicare insolvencies. All these positions break with its two main rivals.
On abortion, she reiterated her point that any national regulation on terminating a pregnancy would require a 60-vote threshold in the Senate. She confronted Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis on the issue, joking, “The guys just don’t know how to talk about it.”
On Social Security and Medicare, she stuck with what used to be the standard Republican position before Trump’s rise: that those who are retired or near retirement should get their full benefits, but that benefits should be cut for younger workers and the affluent. .
And she continued to adhere to an internationalist approach to foreign policy, despite increasing isolationism in her party. “You have to be a friend to get a friend,” she said.
Ms. Haley also responded to an ad blitz from a Trump super PAC in New Hampshire that has attacked her as “too weak” and “too liberal” on illegal immigration, pointing to her endorsement of some of the nation’s strictest immigration laws the country. during her term as governor of South Carolina.
“Look, just because President Trump says something doesn’t make it true,” she said. She also said, “I appreciate all the attention President Trump is giving me. It’s very sweet and thoughtful of him. But he lies about it.”
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign kept up the barrage intended to slow its momentum. As she spoke, the campaign sent out a flurry of emails, with titles like “Nikki Haley revives Bush’s amnesty policy,” “Nikki Haley loves China” and “Nikki Haley will raise your taxes.”