Nikki Haley had some sharp words for the Republican National Committee on Sunday, after the group reportedly ditched a plan to make Donald Trump the presumptive nominee while she was still in the race.
Haley told Meet the Press’ Kristen Welker that the RNC was “clearly not” an “honest broker,” arguing that the committee needed to let the race play out before they make a call on the nominee.
Haley placed third in Iowa, behind both Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and second in New Hampshire, making a win in South Carolina key as questions about her electoral viability swirl.
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“This is a democracy,” Haley said. “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.”
The question came after a draft resolution declaring Trump the presumptive nominee circulated at the committee last week. It was introduced by David Bossie, a former campaign manager for Trump, who later withdrew it after Trump railed against the resolution on Truth Social in favor of securing the nomination “at the BALLOT BOX.”
Haley still laid the blame at Trump’s door, saying his actions in trying to prevent debates and his past communications with RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel helped lead to the resolution’s introduction.
“I don’t think this is the place of the RNC to do it,” Haley said. “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.”
The next primary is in South Carolina on Feb. 24, where Trump had garnered 58 percent of statewide support in an American Promise/Tyson Group poll conducted after the New Hampshire primary. Haley, a former governor of the state, had 31 percent.
She insisted on Sunday that she doesn’t necessarily need to win in South Carolina.
“I need to show that I’m building momentum,” Haley said. “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.”
