The courts are taking too long to handle the cases against former President Donald Trump and “need to do things quicker,” Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley said Thursday.
“I just think they need to do things quickly. If it's hearing a case, do it quickly. If it's an appeal, do it quickly,” Trump’s remaining Republican opponent told Scripps News in an exclusive interview.
The comments come as Haley campaigned in Virginia ahead of the March 5 Super Tuesday primaries there and in 15 other states and territories. It is also one day after the Supreme Court further delayed one of the cases against Trump by agreeing to hear arguments on whether or not he should be immune from criminal prosecution for actions taken while president.
In a wide-ranging interview, Haley discussed other key campaign issues including immigration and the border, whether Trump and President Joe Biden are too old and the future of the Republican party.
“We have to look at the fact, the Republican Party used to be the party of fiscal discipline. We used to be the party of smaller government. The problem is under Donald Trump, he changed all that he put us $8 trillion in debt in just four years, more than any other president,” she said.
“Look at what happened to national security. It used to be peace through strength. Now we see that under Donald Trump he’s making it more isolationist. He’s siding with Putin over our allies that stood with us at 9/11,” the former governor of South Carolina added.
Haley, who served as United Nations ambassador in the Trump administration, trails badly in the polls despite the $115 million her campaign and allied groups have spent.
How long until presidential candidates clinch the nomination?
After this past weekend, former President Trump still needs over 1,100 delegates, but the calendar is about to get very busy very quickly.
So far, Haley has secured only 20 of 1,215 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination. Meanwhile, Trump has locked up 109 delegates with victories in each of the six states and territories that have so far held primaries and caucuses.
That included Haley’s home state of South Carolina, where she secured only 3 out of the 50 delegates at stake.
The Trump campaign has predicted they will secure those 1,215 during a group of primaries held March 12 — the first day on which a majority of Republican delegates will have been chosen.
Haley’s camp has countered that, saying she expects upset victories in the upcoming days — for example, in California where all 169 delegates will go to the first-place finisher, and where she hopes her criticisms of Trump will connect with voters.
Virginia, where Haley campaigned Thursday, awards its 48 delegates based on a combination of the statewide vote and performance in each of the state’s 11 congressional districts.
Haley pledged to be “competitive” on Super Tuesday and said she’s asking her supporters to “take 10 people with them” to the polls.
"We have a country to save,” she said. “This isn’t about looking at who’s going get it and who’s not going to get it. This is about making your values and voice heard in a way that you want America to go.”
Koch network stops funding Nikki Haley after loss in South Carolina
The network's influential political arm endorsed Haley back in November but has lost confidence after her fifth straight electoral loss to Trump.
