Haley calls Trump ‘totally unhinged’ after donor ban, RNC move

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley called former President Trump “totally unhinged” during an interview Friday on Fox News, referencing the recent threat he made to blacklist donors who give to Haley.

The former South Carolina governor also criticized the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) move to declare Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee with only two states having held contests so far — an effort Trump reportedly backed but then publicly declined.

“First of all, you had election night, Trump gets on stage, he throws an absolute temper tantrum talking about revenge, but he says nothing about the American people, nothing about what he’s going to do about the wasteful spending that he encouraged and allowed the Republicans and Democrats to do in his term,” Haley said Friday.

“He said nothing about how he’s going to secure the border and what he’s going to do different than he didn’t do when he was president before. He said nothing about how he’s going to prevent war.” 

The former U.N. ambassador then re-upped her criticism about the threats Trump made to donors, in which he said they would not be a part of the “MAGA camp” if they donated to Haley, his sole remaining rival in the 2024 primary race.

“Then he goes and says that he’s gonna ban anyone from MAGA that donates to me. Think about that,” Haley said. “That’s a president who’s supposed to serve every person in America and you’re deciding that you’re going to have a club and actually banned people from being in and out of your club.” 

The former South Carolina governor then said that Trump encouraged RNC members to crown him as the presumptive GOP nominee, despite later issuing a statement suggesting the party halt the effort.

The resolution was spearheaded by RNC committee member David Bossie and would have effectively ended the Republican primary. Allegedly some RNC members criticized the move since it would have deprived the voters a choice in the primary process.  

“And then he goes and encourages the members of the RNC and tries to push them into saying that he’s the nominee in the race. I mean, they got so much pushback that he had to backtrack,” Haley said. “But at the end of the day, our focus is still on the American people.” 

A Republican candidate needs to win 1,215 delegates to secure the GOP bid. Trump has 32. 

Fox News host Dana Perino asked Haley if she had spoken to RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel after McDaniel earlier this week said the party should unite behind Trump. 

“I let her know how disappointed I was,” Haley responded.