In response to Ron DeSantis’ refusal to state whether he supports Ukraine winning its conflict with Russia, Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, who served as UN ambassador under former President Donald Trump, attacked her former employer on Sunday.
In recent town hall meetings, Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, expressed his desire for the war to end while pledging to assist Russia and Ukraine in reaching a settlement.
DeSantis, the governor of Florida and Donald Trump’s closest competitor for the Republican nomination, recently expressed his support for a peace agreement and expressed the hope that combat will cease by the time the next president takes the oath of office in January 2025.
Haley, the sole female candidate for the Republican nomination, criticised DeSantis for calling the conflict in Ukraine a “territorial dispute” earlier this year. DeSantis later apologised for the remark, which was met with harsh condemnation.
During a live, broadcast CNN town hall meeting, Haley said, “For them to sit there and say that this is a territorial dispute – that’s just not the case, or to say that we should stay neutral, is just wrong.”
The victory of Ukraine is best for our national security, she continued.
Because many of the Republican Party’s primary voters have an isolationist inclination, the topic of Ukraine divides the party.
Haley, a 51-year-old former governor of South Carolina, announced her candidature for president in February, but she now finds herself in a crowded Republican field that will top 10 this week with the entry of new candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence.
Trump commands a 49% support rating among prospective Republican primary voters. Next with 19% is DeSantis. The gap between them and the rest of the field, including Haley, is enormous; in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll from May, she received just 4% of the vote.
In an effort to set themselves apart from DeSantis and emerge as the leading challenger to Trump, Haley and several of her opponents who are polling in the single digits are doing so.
However, others have also started to criticise Trump personally after months of holding back from doing so for fear of offending his ardent fans.
On Sunday, she also blasted Trump for praising Kim Jong Un last week after his nation was chosen to serve on the World Health Organization’s executive board. The North Korean leader has already received plaudits from Trump.
Kim Jong Un is a thug, according to Haley. We shouldn’t congratulate dictators, in my opinion.
DeSantis and Pence criticised Trump for praising Kim during separate weekend appearances in Iowa, the state where the 2020 presidential election campaign gets underway.
