Haley, tapped by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to give the official GOP response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night, didn’t call out Trump but name, but urged Republicans to adopt a more empathetic tone.
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“Nikki Haley says ‘welcoming properly vetted legal immigrants, regardless of religion.’ Translation: let in all the Muslims”, she tweeted.
She later told Matt Lauer on NBC’s “Today Show”,”Mr. Trump has definitely contributed to what I think is just irresponsible talk'”.
“You know, the RNC has been very forceful in saying, ‘We have to all line up and agree that we’re gonna support the nominee and not be third party candidates, ‘” he said.
The White House praised Republican Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina Wednesday for having the “courage” to criticize GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
Haley said Wednesday on “The Today Show” that Trump was indeed in her sights.
Trump and his supporters, along with some of the far-right, were critical of Haley’s address. But now that I’m running, she wants to take a weak side on immigration.
JEB BUSH: She did an extraordinary job, and I think she talked about a more broader, hopeful, optimistic Republican message, a conservative message that draws people, the great diversity of our country, towards our cause.
I am the proud daughter of Indian immigrants who reminded my brothers, my sister and me everyday how blessed we were to live in this country. And I – and they feel like I do.
“We need to recognize our contributions to the erosion of the public trust in America’s leadership”, she said of Republicans. She said no one who works hard and follows the laws “should ever feel unwelcome in this country”. He has donated $7,000 to Haley’s two gubernatorial runs and $5,000 to a political group with ties to the governor. “You said the ‘loudest voices in the room.’ Was that comment directed at Donald Trump?”.
Conservative commentator Ann Coulter put it more crudely: “Trump should deport Nikki Haley”. “It’s certainly that, but her speech last night sort of expanded the theme of who is and who isn’t qualified to be a Republican, and the Republican Party is still anti-conservative”, Limbaugh said.
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It’s unusual for a president to use the State of the Union speech to critique a leading candidate of the other party who is seeking to be his successor. “We need to accept that we’ve played a role in how and why our government is broken, and then we need to fix it. …” Cheering Trump on have been such GOP nativists as ex-presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan, Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafley and Coulter.
