Haley changes tune, calls Trump ‘reckless’

Nikki Haley on Monday called Donald Trump “reckless.” Tim Scott described the federal charges brought against him as “serious allegations.”

It was far from an outright condemnation. But their comments marked a significant departure from the two presidential contenders’ initial reaction to Trump’s indictment. Just days after Republicans rushed to Trump’s defense, their remarks served as a sign the tide could be turning in the Republican presidential primary field’s willingness to go on offense against the former president.

“Two things can be true at the same time,” Haley said in a Fox News interview Monday afternoon. She said the Department of Justice and FBI “have lost all credibility with the American people.” Then she turned her fire to Trump.

“If this indictment is true, if what it says is actually the case, President Trump was incredibly reckless with our national security,” Haley said, adding that her husband serves in the military. “This puts all of our military men and women in danger, if you’re going to talk about what our military is capable of or how we would go about invading or doing something with one of our enemies.”

She added, “If that’s the case, it’s reckless, it’s frustrating and it causes problems. You know, we’re looking now, this is the second indictment. We’re looking at a third indictment coming in with Georgia.”

Earlier in the day Monday, Scott, at a campaign event in Spartanburg, S.C., maintained that there was a “double standard” for Republicans and Democrats in the justice system, as he suggested last week. But like Haley, he too went a step further.

“This case is a serious case with serious allegations, but in America you are still innocent until proven guilty,” Scott said.

Haley, who was Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations after serving as South Carolina governor, and Scott, the state’s junior senator who has offered both public praise and criticism of Trump in recent years, each initially condemned the federal indictments against Trump, as did most of the rest of the Republican presidential field, including former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy.

In an interview on Fox on Thursday evening — one that came shortly after Trump confirmed news of the indictment — Scott said Americans were now seeing “a justice system where the scales are weighted.” The next day, Haley tweeted that “This is not how justice should be pursued in our country.”

Neither initially spoke to the substance of the allegations federal prosecutors have made against Trump.

But their comments on Monday amounted to one of the first indications that GOP candidates running against Trump for the nomination — who have overwhelmingly held back criticism of him in recent months — may not remain as deferential as the primary race unfolds.

Trump is currently trouncing the rest of the primary field by more than 30 percentage points, according to public polling averages. And while DeSantis since entering the race last month has begun pointedly attacking Trump, the Florida governor has not gone after him directly regarding his latest legal troubles. Since the indictment, DeSantis has condemned the “weaponization of federal law enforcement” and “uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation.”

Speaking to the North Carolina GOP on Friday, DeSantis made a veiled jab at Trump, though his comments came after discussing the lack of charges brought against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Democrat.

“As a naval officer, if I would have taken classified [documents] to my apartment, I would have been court-martialed in a New York minute,” DeSantis said. “I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country. Let’s enforce it on everybody and make sure we all know the rules.”

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were the only two Republican presidential candidates to quickly condemn Trump after the indictment.

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Haley and Scott’s remarks.