Haley concedes Democrats ‘very smart’ to choose younger nominee but calls Harris ‘weakest candidate’

While former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley credited Democrats for launching Vice President Kamala Harris as a younger alternative to President Joe Biden, she warned that age isn’t the only factor at play this election cycle.

During an interview with CNN, Haley admitted that the Left made a savvy move in pushing 81-year-old Biden to drop his reelection bid. “Democrats were very smart to put in a younger candidate,” the former South Carolina governor told host Jake Tapper. 

Haley also believed Biden’s heir apparent still faces a long shot at winning the presidency. “If you look at it, they put in the weakest candidate,” Haley told the network.

Harris’s Republican opponents have long criticized the vice president for her prosecutorial record as California attorney general and for the increase in illegal immigrants coming in at the southern border.

Haley said Republicans should focus on those issues instead of campaigning against Harris as an alleged diversity, equity, and inclusion hire.

“Not helpful,” Haley remarked about DEI talking points. ”Talk about the facts.” Haley urged the GOP to focus on Harris’s policies. “We’re talking about a liberal senator who literally has not accomplished very much. You don’t need to talk about what she looks like or what gender she is.”

Her comments come as top Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), have also warned conservatives to steer away from DEI attacks against Harris. 

While Haley has said she would vote for Trump despite their bitter rivalry on the campaign trail, even endorsing him at the Republican National Convention, she refused to back down from the “tough things” she has said about him in the past. “I don’t think we need to apologize or take anything back,” she told Tapper on Thursday. 

“I said a lot of tough things about him in the campaign. He said a lot of tough things about me in the campaign. That’s what happens in campaigns,” Haley said, downplaying the two’s public sparring earlier this year.

While she told CNN she continues to disagree with Trump on some issues, she believes he’s a better alternative to Harris. 

“We’ve been given a choice, Trump or Harris,” Haley said before adding that she doesn’t think voters have to “agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him.”