Nikki Haley, who once appeared to be Fox News’ handpicked Trump successor in the GOP primary, railed against the network’s morning show hosts on Tuesday for supposedly “coronating” former President Donald Trump ahead of New Hampshire’s presidential primary.
Following Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspending his campaign this weekend amid plummeting support, the GOP race is down to only two candidates: Trump and Haley. While Haley had seen a surge in her poll numbers in recent weeks, including one survey showing the former South Carolina governor tied with Trump in New Hampshire, the latest polls suggest a massive shift back to Trump after his blowout victory in the Iowa caucus.
Additionally, Fox News’ turbulent relationship with the twice-impeached ex-president has thawed a bit as it’s become increasingly likely he will be the nominee—though Trump has continued to attack the “one-sided” network’s coverage of him. Reversing its nearly two-year ban on interviewing Trump live this month, which was largely in place due to the ex-president’s election lies costing the network nearly a billion dollars, Fox has increasingly featured Trump on its airwaves ahead of Tuesday’s primary.
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Appearing on Fox & Friends, which was broadcasting live from New Hampshire on Tuesday morning, Haley was quickly pressed by the program’s anchors on whether she would soon consider dropping out of the race. Co-host Brian Kilmeade, in particular, wanted to know how close Tuesday’s results would need to be for her to move on to South Carolina.
“I have been consistent. I wanted to be strong in Iowa. We started with two percent. We ended with 20 percent,” she declared. “I want to be stronger in New Hampshire. We will know what that is when the numbers come through. I want to be stronger than that in South Carolina. It’s just continuing to build.”
After Kilmeade wondered whether a “strong showing” meant she would need to be within five points of Trump in New Hampshire, Haley snapped back at the conservative host.
“You know, at the end of the day, you guys are going to be talking about what a strong showing is or not. Now, I don’t know that you will tell the truth,” she exclaimed.
“Don’t worry about us not telling the truth,” Kilmeade retorted. “The numbers are the numbers. What do you think is strong?”
Later in the conversation, unapologetically pro-Trump host Ainsley Earhardt seemingly tried to convince Haley to call it quits after Tuesday’s results so the ex-governor could potentially have a role in a second Trump administration or run for president again.
“If you don’t win today, do you go on to South Carolina?” Earhardt asked. “I’m from South Carolina, and we love you there. We love Tim Scott there, but Donald Trump is also loved there. You don’t want to go into your state and lose that state if you stay in the race, because we’d love to see you in some other capacity down the road. What is your response to that? Do you get out if you lose today?”
Haley, whose campaign released a memo on Tuesday unequivocally saying they will move forward to South Carolina, flatly said she won’t “get out” if she finishes behind Trump in New Hampshire. She added that the vast majority of Americans have said they do not want to see a Trump-Joe Biden rematch this November.
After the Fox hosts brought up Trump’s huge polling lead in South Carolina, Kilmeade once more asked if there was “no scenario where it stops tonight,” prompting Haley to accuse Fox of preemptively crowning Trump the nominee.
“I’m going to fight no matter what,” Haley pushed back. “I don’t care how much you all want to coronate Donald Trump. At the end of the day, that’s not what Americans want. Americans want a choice and we’re going to give that that choice.”
Kilmeade, meanwhile, was not pleased with the presidential hopeful’s description of their coverage and directly confronted Haley on it.
“You keep saying ‘coronate, lie, not tell the truth,’” he said. “I’m really wondering why you think we’re the enemy.”
According to Haley, it was because she’s “looked at the media” and “the political class all coalescing” around Trump and saying “everybody needs to get out.” She went on to insist that is “not democracy,” reiterating that she will remain in the race through at least South Carolina.
Haley’s complaints about Fox News’ shift towards Trump in the GOP primary are reminiscent of DeSantis, another one-time favored non-Trump candidate of the network’s, griping that Fox was acting as Trump’s “Praetorian Guard” just days before the Florida governor dropped out. (DeSantis then went on to endorse Trump in the primary.)
Meanwhile, as Trump continues to grouse about Fox News, the network’s hosts have reacted by ramping up their criticism of Haley, claiming she is playing the “victim” while speculating that she’s only in the race for “clout.”
