Trump ally Nikki Haley turns on him during impeachment trial: ‘We shouldn’t have followed him’
Nikki Haley (L) speaks beside US President Donald J Trump (R) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on 9 October 2018
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Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has turned on Donald Trump amid his Senate impeachment trial, saying that she believes he “let us down.”
In an interview published by Politico on Friday, Ms Haley, who served in Mr Trump's cabinet between 2017 to 2018, said: “We need to acknowledge he let us down."
Ms Haley added: "He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again.”
The comments from the former governor of South Carolina, who campaigned in person for Mr Trump during the 2020 presidential election and at the Republican National Convention, are her strongest yet about the former president.
Read more: Follow live updates from Trump's impeachment trial
She recently warned Republicans to not “shy away” from the party’s achievements during the Trump administration, but distanced herself from his conduct in recent weeks, as he has made numerous false claims that there was widespread fraud in 3 November election and later incited the Capitol riots.
“His actions since Election Day will be judged harshly by history,” Ms Haley said last month according to excerpts from a speech seen by Fox News, before adding: “We should not shy away from our accomplishments.”
Ms Haley's interview with Politico was published on the fourth day of Mr Trump's second Senate impeachment trial, for inciting the Capitol riots at a "Save America" rally outside of the White House on 6 January.
Five people died and several more were injured in the insurrection. A week later, and a week before leaving office, Mr Trump was impeached by the House.
Ms Haley confirmed to Politico on Friday that she has not spoken to Mr Trump since the riots, and expressed her disappointment with remarks he made about his vice-president Mike Pence, where he criticised him for not overturning the election results.
“When I tell you I’m angry, it’s an understatement,” she told Politico. “I am so disappointed in the fact that [despite] the loyalty and friendship he had with Mike Pence, that he would do that to him. Like, I’m disgusted by it,” she added.
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