Nikki Haley Refuses to Condemn Trump’s Abuse of E. Jean Carroll

When challenged to address the fact that Donald Trump has been found in court to be liable for sexual abuse and defamation, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley avoided criticizing him.

Haley, who previously served in the Trump administration as ambassador to the United Nations, is ostensibly competing against her former boss for the Republican presidential nomination. 

Despite this fact, she—like her fellow candidates—has been reluctant to openly criticize or challenge the GOP frontrunner. 

In the aftermath of finishing third in the Iowa Republican caucus after Trump and Ron DeSantis, Haley was interviewed by CNN reporter Dana Bash.

When the topic turned to Trump, who made a pitstop in New York to attend an appellate hearing of a civil case in which he was found to be liable for sexual abuse and defamation of journalist E. Jean Carroll, Bash asked Haley to address the scandal.

“You’re the only woman in this race,” Bash began. “How do you feel about your party’s frontrunner being held liable for sexual abuse?”

“Well, first of all, I haven’t paid attention to his cases and I’m not a lawyer,” Haley replied. “All I know is that he’s innocent until proven guilty and when he’s proven guilty and he’s sitting in a courtroom, that’s exactly what I’m talking about—you have investigations on Trump and Biden—”

“A lot of people,” Bash interrupted, “forgive me, but a lot of people in the Republican Party blow it all off and say that it’s all a witch hunt and he’s—”

Haley interrupted, “Because I think some of the cases have been political—”

Bash interjected, “But this case in particular—”

Haley continued, “This one I haven’t looked at but if he’s found guilty, then he’ll—he needs to pay the price, he needs to do what he’s supposed to.”

Haley’s quick attempt at creating a false equivalence between Trump and President Biden—who has not been found liable for sexual abuse and defamation—or her apparent knowledge of Trump’s other cases—enough so that she’s comfortable declaring them to be political witch hunts—were not challenged by Bash.