Haley to Trump after second GOP debate: ‘You can’t win if you’re absent’

GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley joined her 2024 rivals in blasting former President Trump for choosing to skip the first two primary debates.

“You can’t win if you’re absent,” Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, said Thursday on Fox News. “I think that, you know, he’s got a lot of questions to answer to.”

Trump announced earlier this month he would forego the second Republican primary debate — as he did the first debate in August — and instead chose to visit with striking autoworkers in Michigan.

Haley, considered one of Wednesday night’s winners, was one of seven GOP candidates who took to the stage in Simi Valley, Calif. She was joined by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

The former governor, who also served under the Trump administration as an ambassador to the U.N., isn’t the only one to push back on the former president’s decision to skip the debate. Christie and DeSantis have also been vocal critics — especially as Trump remains the clear front-runner in the race.

Last week, Christie called out Trump for his decision, accusing him of “hiding” behind his “failed social media site,” Truth Social.

“He doesn’t like when people stand up to him and call him out on the nonsense that he’s involved in,” Christie told CNN at the time. “If he had any guts, he’d get on the debate stage.”

DeSantis earlier this week claimed Trump is “missing in action,” and “should be on this stage [Wednesday].” On Thursday, the governor echoed Christie’s argument.

“You know, it’s one thing to do it behind the keyboard,” he said of Trump’s attacks, adding “Step up on stage and do it to my face.” 

Haley said the debate stage is the best place for Trump to answer questions about what happened under his previous administration, including what she called “out-of-control spending that happened under his watch.”

“There’s a lot of issues that I think Americans are gonna want answers to, and the more these debates play out, and the more that he’s not there, they’re gonna have a problem with that,” she said.

Trump’s lead is only growing in the field, despite mounting legal troubles, according to recent polling. An NBC News survey released Sunday showed the former president having 59 percent of support from Republican voters, leaving the remaining candidates trailing behind in polling.

The poll found DeSantis having 16 percent, Haley with 7 percent and Pence and Christie each tied at 4 percent.

When asked if the remaining candidates were “fighting for scraps,” Haley said she doesn’t think they are.  

“If you go to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, people are talking about inflation. They’re talking about how expensive not just groceries and gas are, but their rent, unable to buy a home,” she argued. “Fifty percent of families can’t afford diapers they’re talking about the lack of transparency in the classroom and how they’re going to catch their kids up. They don’t like the open border, they’re worried about China.”

“They’re not talking about Trump,” Haley added. “They’re talking about who’s going to take us forward … We can’t keep looking at the old news from the past. We’ve got to go forward.”