Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt on Tuesday pressed GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley on her pledge to endorse the Republican nominee.
Haley deflected when asked Sunday on “Meet the Press” whether she would adhere to her previous pledge with the Republican National Committee (RNC) to endorse the GOP nominee, who is likely to be former President Donald Trump. Earhardt asked Haley why she was “waffling” on adhering to the pledge, stating that the former South Carolina governor “didn’t really answer the question.”
“You said that you were not gonna run against Donald Trump,” Earhardt said. “He mentioned that, and you did run against him. You also took the pledge to support whoever the Republican nominee is, and over the weekend on the Sunday show, you kinda, you were waffling on that. You didn’t really answer the question. You seemed to back off on that.”
“And you said you’re not running for No Labels if you don’t get the Republican nomination,” Earhardt continued. “So just set the record straight, is it no to No Labels? Is it yes to support the nominee?”
“I am a conservative Republican. I have been all of my life,” Haley responded. “And, you know, the problem is right now, everybody’s saying if you don’t, if you don’t support Donald Trump, you’re a Democrat.”
Haley said that she “would not” run as an Independent candidate or a candidate for the centrist organization No Labels because she is “a Republican and that’s who [she’s] always been.” The former U.N. Ambassador under Trump emphasized she wants to “give people a voice,” stating that “we’re gonna have that today” on Super Tuesday when sixteen states and territories vote in presidential nominating contests. (RELATED: MSNBC Guest Pretty Much ‘Bedwetting’ In Real Time Says Democrats Need To Stop ‘Bedwetting’ Over Trump)
“God bless America that we get to do that, and then we’re gonna take it from there. That’s what we’ve always done,” Haley said.
“But what the change?” Earhardt interjected. “Why on the debate stage did you say, ‘I will support the nominee?’ And now it sounds like you’re saying if it is Donald Trump, it doesn’t mean you’re a Democrat it just means you don’t support him.”
“I didn’t waffle on that,” Haley retorted. “What I said is I, this is, that’s not a decision I have to make today. The convention isn’t until July. We’ve got 16 states voting today, and so we want those 16 states to vote. I don’t have to go, but I haven’t heard him pledge to me that he would support me if I won. So I don’t know why I have to go and pledge to him that I would support him if I won.”
“Because you already did,” Earhardt said.
Haley has only won one presidential primary during her campaign after several losses to Trump. She carried the District of Columbia’s GOP primary Sunday with just under 63% of the vote, according to the Associated Press (AP).