Nikki Haley says Mitch McConnell should ‘know when to walk away’ 

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley
Tierney L. Cross
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley makes a foreign policy speech on China at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley suggested that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should step down amid the senior senator’s health concerns.

McConnell froze at a leadership press briefing for almost 20 seconds Wednesday, prompting concerns at the briefing both from his colleagues and members of the press corps, and for the ensuing days.

Later in the week, the senator said he was fine and that he would serve out his full term, but even as he tried to brush aside concerns from his colleagues, many are wondering whether he will step away from his leadership position.

Haley, in an interview with CBS News’s Margaret Brennan, said McConnell should “know when to walk away,” but took it a step further — renewing her calls for term limits.

“What I am saying about Mitch McConnell, Dianne Feinstein, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, all of them: know when to walk away. We have huge issues that need new solutions,” Haley said.


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Haley praised McConnell’s work on the Supreme Court and other judicial confirmations, before calling for a “new generation of leaders.”

“We’ve got to stop electing people because they look good in the picture or they hold a baby well.

“We’ve got to stop electing people because we like them and they’ve been there a long time. … You need to have term limits, because we need new ideas, new solutions,” Haley continued. “We’ve got to have a new generation.”

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When asked if former President Trump should also take a competency test, Haley said “Everyone should take it,” and said Trump doesn’t fulfill the Republican party’s need for new leaders.

“Republicans have lost the last seven out of eight popular votes for president,” Haley said. “That’s nothing to be proud of, we should want to win the majority of Americans, we’ve got to start going with a new generation so that we can do that.”

Tags Donald Trump Mitch McConnell Nikki Haley

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