Meet the Press - January 28, 2024 Nikki Haley (R) Presidential Candidate, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), Cornell Belcher, Matt Gorman and Carol Lee
Interview
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This race is far from over.
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Bring it Donald, show me what you got.
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Thanks so much, Kristen, for having me.
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Look, I mean, he can't bully his way through the nomination. I think that, you know, it's not surprising that he is surrounded by the political elite. But let's keep in mind the political elite has gotten nothing done for us in stopping the wasteful spending, has gotten nothing done to secure the border, has gotten nothing done to keep us more safe as we see wars around the world. And so, look, that's exactly what we don't want. I mean, the reason the political elite are upset and the members of Congress are upset is because I've pushed for term limits. I've pushed for mental competency tests. I've said if they don't get a budget out on time, they shouldn't get paid. So, look, I have fought this political class my entire life, and it’s – it’s – I'd much rather be fighting for the people than fighting for the elected officials in DC.
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I mean, clearly not. If you're going to go and basically tell the American people that you're going to go and decide who the nominee is after only two states have voted, I mean, 48 states out there, this is a democracy. The American people want to have their say in who is going to be their nominee. We need to give them that. I mean, you can't do that based on just two states. And not only that. It's 1,215 delegates to reach the nomination. Donald Trump has 32. I have 17. So, let's let this play out. Let's do what we need to. I mean, we saw South Carolinians. We had 1,500 people last night in Greenville County. And I think that Americans want to be able to make this decision themselves. I don't think this is the place of the RNC to do it. I think that Trump overstepped when he pushed them to do it, and I think that's why he's had to back down. And that was the right thing to do, was to back down.
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I mean, we know exactly the people that pushed it are his people. And I know that during the debates – I mean, he was pushing Ronna McDaniel to stop the debates. He was calling her every other day. He's been pushing them to pay for his lawsuits and all of these other things. But at the end of the day, this is not about the RNC. This is about the American people. This is not about, you know, a political party deciding who they want to be the nominee. You know, when I ran for governor, there were five candidates. I was far from the nominee. I was the one – you know, I ran against the lieutenant governor, an attorney general, a congressman, and a state senator. They did the same thing to me then. I won then. I'm going to win now.
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Well, let's first talk about the people that he's surrounded himself in South Carolina. Yes, he got the – the endorsement of the governor, but that's the same governor that I defeated when I ran for governor. Yes, he got the endorsement of the political class in South Carolina, but that's the same group that I forced to have to show their votes on the record. It's the same group that I forced to pass ethics reform where they had to disclose their income. It's the same group where I vetoed half a billion dollars of pet projects that I didn't think taxpayer dollars should go to. So, there's no surprise there that the political elite are surrounding him there.
He has become – Trump has become an insider. That's what it comes down do, is he's more interested in satisfying the elected class than he is in satisfying the people. When it comes to South Carolina, look, we wanted to be strong. And I think you look, we started with 2% in Iowa. We ended up with 20%. We got to New Hampshire, we needed to do better than that, and we did. We got 43% of the vote. Now we're going into South Carolina, we need to be stronger than what we did in New Hampshire. And so, that's certainly what we need to do. But it's not just that we need to be stronger, Kristen. Trump needs to be stronger. He's not getting the independent vote. He's not getting a segment of the Republicans. And so, he's got some work to do, as well.
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I think I need to do better than I did in New Hampshire. So, this is a building situation. It's not about which state –
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– you get and which state you don’t –
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I think I need to –
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Well, we've got 17 delegates. He's got 32. I'd say that's pretty good to start. What I do think I need to do is I need to show that I'm building momentum. I need to show that I'm stronger in South Carolina than New Hampshire. Does that have to be a win? I don't think that necessarily has to be a win. But it certainly has to be better than what I did in New Hampshire, and it certainly has to be close. And so, that's what we're focusing on. If we win, great. If not, we've got to show that we're continuing to narrow that margin along the way –
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– to give people in Super Tuesday states a reason to know that they can continue to see and have us fight on.
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I've never stayed in this race because of court cases. You know, really, I don't know what all the court cases are. I haven't paid attention to what he's won, what he's lost, what he's fighting for, any of that. What I know is, you know, the first one came down, and he spent a lot of time ranting about how he lost that court case. But the reality is every time he's talking about defending himself in court, he's not talking about getting our economy back on track. He's not talking about closing the border. He's not talking about how we're going to get our kids reading again and getting us focused again. He's not talking about law and order. That's the problem is – he's not talking about what the American people want. Kristen, look at what happened just in the 48 hours after the election.
Here he went on a – he was totally unhinged, went on a rampage election night talking about revenge. Then, the next day, he goes and says, “Anybody who supports me is not going to be allowed to be part of MAGA.” Well, that means those people that voted for me in Iowa and New Hampshire and those people who donated to me, really, you're going to go and say they're not in your club? You're supposed to be president representing everyone. Then, he goes and pushes the Republican Party to make him the nominee? I mean, look, he's insecure. He's threatened. He sees what's happening, and he knows these court cases are going to take him further and further away from the campaign trail.
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And that's what he's worried about.
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As long as I keep growing per state, I am in this race. I have every –
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– intention of going to Super Tuesday, through Super Tuesday. We're going to keep on going and see where this gets us. That's what we know we're going to do right now. I take it one state at a time. I don't think too far ahead.
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I'm not going anywhere.
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I think the American people decide who should be disqualifying. I've always thought – it's the same thing with the RNC picking the nominee. We don't need to take over anything that the American people have the right to do. I think that – I have always said I think Donald Trump has the right to be on the ballot. I've always said I trust the American people. They know how to make good decisions. And so, I think that they're going to see this for what it is.
They see that he's completely distracted. They see that he's going on these rants about how he's the victim. And I think that's exactly what we don't need a strong leader to be. And so, you know, these court cases are going to keep happening one by one. We're going to keep seeing him in a courtroom, and we're going to see him come out and do a press conference. That's not what you want a president to be. But more than that, that's not what we want Russia to see. That's not what we want China to see. And that's not what we want Iran to see.
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I absolutely trust the jury. And I think that they made their decision based on the evidence. I just don't think that should take him off the ballot. I think the American people will take him off the ballot. I think that's the best way to go forward, is not let him play the victim. Let him play the loser. That's what we want him to do at the end of the day.
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I don't think he should be taken off the ballot. I think the American people will decide if he's disqualifying or not. We don't do that, Kristen, in America. Anybody that wants to run can run. And I think that's really important. We have seen a lot of people try and infringe on our freedoms and our democracy. We can never let that happen. I don't want a political party deciding who's right and wrong. I don't want, you know, any judges who decide who deserves to be on the ballot and who doesn't. I want the American people to decide it. The heartbeat of America is our democracy. Let's let the American people decide who they want to lead this country.
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I'm not giving him a pass on anything. I mean, I have said – you know, he went on for – for three or four minutes talking about how I didn't secure the Capitol on January 6th. I mean, clearly, he was confused, thinking that I was Nancy Pelosi. But, look, that's exactly why we don't need two people in their 80s running for president. We need someone who can serve a strong eight years to get our country back on track. You can't do that with him. And I think it's not being disrespectful. It's the fact that when you're 80, you are declining.
That's just a fact. And so, look, there are multiple things that I think are the reason he should not be president. That's the whole reason I'm running. I do think that he is in decline, and I think that he needs to know to step away. I do think that he surrounds himself in chaos, and we can't be a country in disarray, and have a world on fire and be in chaos. I do think that these court cases are distracting not just to the American people but to him himself, which is keeping him from talking about what really matters. That's exactly why I don't think he should be president.
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I mean, honestly, Kristen, I laugh every time I see one of his tweets, every time I see him throw a temper tantrum, because I know Donald Trump very well. When he feels insecure, he starts to rail. He starts to rant. He starts to flail his arms, and he starts to get upset. When he gets – feels threatened, he starts to throw all kinds of things out there. I would always tell him he was his own worst enemy. He's proving that right now. He proved it in the fact that he continues to be chaotic. Those things don't hurt my feelings. This is not personal for me. What is personal for me is getting America back on track.
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My message to Republicans is: Do not leave D.C. until you finish the job. We have waited for so long for Congress to do something about the border. First, Joe Biden should be securing the border. This is a national security threat. The idea that he is actually suing Governor Abbott for trying to protect the people of Texas is wrong. America's acting like it's September 10th, and we better remember what September 12th felt like, because it only takes one person to cause a 9/11 moment. The second thing is Republicans and Democrats need to get into a room.
They don't need to leave until they figure this out, because the American people are not safe at this point. And Donald Trump, the last thing he needs to do is tell them to wait to pass a border deal until the election. We can't wait one more day. But they do need to get this right. I don't know exactly the details in the bill, but one of the things I saw is that they didn't have the “Remain in Mexico” policy. You have to have the “Remain in Mexico” policy because people don't even need to set foot on U.S. soil. That's the first place we need to start.
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Well, I haven't seen the details of the bill so I can't comment on whether I would sign it. What I can tell you is I've seen things that are not in it that should be in it. And let's keep in mind I appreciate that President Biden is saying he wants to be humane in this process. But look, I dealt with the border when I was in the United Nations. While President Trump was dealing with it in D.C., I was on the ground in Honduras and Guatemala. What those people go through in that trek to America is horrific. And it's dangerous and it's unsafe.
We need to make sure they never even think there's an opening for them. They shouldn't even make that trek in the first place. And what's happened is they see all their family members coming over. They see all their friends coming over. President Biden gave half a million Venezuelans temporary protective status, which is social security numbers and driver's licenses. The first thing they do – I saw this at the U.N. – they pick up the phone and call their relatives and say, "Come on over." We need to stop what's happening at the border–
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We need to get this done.
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I say to President Biden, "Prove it. Get into a room and get this done and prove it because the arm people are waiting." I put this on Republicans and Democrats. I'm not picking favorites in this. I'm telling you, they have all not done a good job from the very beginning, and it is time that we get this country safe again.
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We want to do everything we can to get the hostages home, but I also know what this means. This means that during those two months, Hamas is going to refuel. They're going to rebuild their ammunition. They're going to re-plan. They're going to plan all of the things that they're going to do. They have said they're going to do another attack, and Israel has to keep themselves safe. So this is a fine line that we need to see them walk. First of all, we need to make sure Israel has whatever they need when they need it. We need to make sure that we eliminate Hamas and never take our eye off the target –
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– because they have said they’re going to do this again –
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- and we need to -
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- get the hostages home.
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I think if Israel is willing to pause, then we should. If Israel is not willing to pause, then we shouldn't. They are driving this train. When they saw so many people die on October 7th and they hear Hamas saying they're going to do this again – Kristen, when I was at the United Nations, I gave a speech five years ago. And it told the world that there were maps. These maps were held by Hamas. And it showed that if they could break through the barrier, this is how they were going to kill as many Jewish people as fast as they could.
That happened. I know there would be no Hamas without Iran. I know that they want to eliminate Israel. We've got to find a way to protect Israelis and get those hostages home. This may work. We have to see. But what we also have to do is not take our eyes off of Hamas, because they're going to use this time to kill more people and do more things to build up their military.
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Well, Kristen, I was not home, but Michael and I take care of my parents. They are 87 and 90, and we take care of them. And they were at home and with their caregiver. And so I will tell you that the last thing you want is to see multiple law enforcement officials with guns drawn pointing at my parents and thinking that something happened. It is an awful situation. It put the law enforcement officers in danger. It put my family in danger.
And, you know, it was not a safe situation. And that goes to show the chaos that's surrounding our country right now and the fact that these things are happening. And so, look, I'm not the only one that's happened to. It wasn't the first time. I think we've had it happen twice. But I will tell you this, that I think that what's really important is we have lived in a country of chaos for quite a while now. It is time that we remember what normal felt like. It is time that we remember what healing feels like. It is time that we remember what it's like not to have division, not to have hate.
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We are Americans, and we need to remember how blessed we are.
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I mean, I think – look, I feel it. We've been to town halls, 150-something town halls. There are things that have happened. I've had threats made. It's what happens when you run for president. I can handle that. That is not the problem. What I don't want is for my kids to live like this. That's the reason I'm doing this. Is to have this division and not – my husband is deployed right now, sacrificing for America with his military brothers and sisters.
They are doing that because they love this country, because they still believe in this amazing experiment that is America. We have to go back to remember what it's like to be Americans first. That's the biggest thing that's heartbreaking for me is we're better than this. Our country is better than this. And the rest of the world is looking at us wondering what happened. We've got to right this ship. We've got to get it back. And I know we can do it. America has an amazing ability to self-correct. Sometimes we have to hit rock bottom to know where up is. We're there. We need to start looking up.
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I have said, "I don't want to be anyone's vice president." I don't know how more clear I can be, anyone's vice president, period –
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I'm running –
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– for president. I mean, I think that's what I'm saying. If I say, "I don't want to be anyone's vice president," I think that's pretty clear. What I'm telling you is I am going to run, and I am running to win. And I think the American people deserve better. And I think this is a time where the American people need a lot of courage. We have seen every general election poll. Trump does not beat Biden in a general election. We have seen that. I defeat Biden by double digits. When you look at that, that's a mandate, Kristen, to go get the wasteful spending out of control, to secure our border with no more excuses, to get our kids reading again. That's what we need to be doing.
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I'm not even thinking about endorsements, Kristen. I know that y'all want to talk about what happens if. I'm focused on defeating Donald Trump, period. That's it. I don't think past that. I'm not thinking past South Carolina or Super Tuesday. What I want to do is go and save this country. We have a country to save. I'm determined to do it. Y'all can think forward. I'm focused on the sweet people of South Carolina and making sure that we get their voices heard. And we're going to work this state as hard and as fast as we ever have.
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