Nikki Haley has a perfectly reasonable explanation for why diplomats from countries all over the world laughed in her boss’ face this week during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly. “They love how honest he is,” the U.N. ambassador assured Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning.
With a helpful assist from host Ainsley Earhardt, Haley insisted “The media has this so wrong.” Speaking of the U.N. delegations from around the world, she said, “Do they love America? No. Do they respect America? Now they do.”
At the very top of his speech in New York, President Trump boasted, “In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. America is so thrilled.” As the audience started to laugh, he added, “I did not expect that reaction, but that’s OK.” He later claimed that the line was “meant to get some laughter.”
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“It’s not diplomatic and they find it funny,” Haley said. “When he goes and he is very truthful, they kind of were taken back by it.”
“They’re not used to it!” Steve Doocy chimed in.
“But let me tell you, all day yesterday, they were falling over themselves to get a picture with him, to talk about how great his speech was, how strong it was,” Haley continued. “Whether he said good things about them or not, they love that he’s honest with them and they’ve never seen anything like it, so there’s respect there. I saw that the media was trying to make it something disrespectful. That’s not what it was. They love to be with him.”
After Brian Kilmeade suggested that it was Trump’s ad-libbed follow up that actually prompted the laugh, Haley added, “That made them love him even more!”
Later in the interview, Haley pushed back hard on any suggestion that she might challenge Trump for the Republican nomination in 2020. “I would never run against the president,” she said. “I would campaign for the president.”
