Nikki Haley inclined to pardon “reckless” Trump

Indian American presidential aspirant thinks “it would be terrible for the country to have a former president in prison for years”

After calling Donald Trump “reckless,” Indian American Republican presidential aspirant Nikki Haley says she would still be “inclined” to pardon the former President if he is convicted of federal charges.

Haley’s remarks on the conservative Clay Travis and Buck Sexton radio show on Tuesday came a day after she said the allegations against Trump, if true, show that he put “all of our military men and women in danger.”

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In Tuesday’s interview as reported by Politico, Haley maintained that Trump was “incredibly reckless with our national security,” based on the indictment — but not reckless enough to deserve to carry out a sentence.

“When you look at a pardon, the issue is less about guilt and more about what’s good for the country,” said Haley, the first Indian American to serve in a presidential cabinet as US ambassador to UN under Trump.

“And I think it would be terrible for the country to have a former president in prison for years because of a documents case,” she said. “So I would be inclined in favor of a pardon.”

Haley added that it’s “really premature” to discuss a pardon if Trump hasn’t yet been convicted of any charges.

Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal charges during a historic arraignment in a Miami federal courthouse after being indicted over his handling of classified documents at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort.

Earlier Tuesday, fellow Indian American Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy spoke outside the Miami courthouse and called for each presidential candidate to commit to pardoning Trump.

Earlier, in a Fox News interview Monday afternoon, Haley called Trump “reckless” while suggesting that the Justice department and FBI had lost all credibility.

READ: Nikki Haley calls for competency test for politicians (May 1, 2023)
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“Two things can be true at the same time,” she said suggesting the Department of Justice and FBI “have lost all credibility with the American people.”

“If this indictment is true, if what it says is actually the case, President Trump was incredibly reckless with our national security,” Haley said, adding that her husband serves in the military.

“This puts all of our military men and women in danger, if you’re going to talk about what our military is capable of or how we would go about invading or doing something with one of our enemies.”

She added, “If that’s the case, it’s reckless, it’s frustrating and it causes problems. You know, we’re looking now, this is the second indictment. We’re looking at a third indictment coming in with Georgia.”

On Friday, a day after Trump confirmed news of his indictment, Haley who served as South Carolina governor before taking up the UN job under Trump, tweeted, “This is not how justice should be pursued in our country.”

Most of the rest of the Republican presidential field, including former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy, initially condemned the federal indictments against Trump.

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Trump is currently trouncing the rest of the primary field by more than 30 percentage points, according to public polling averages.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were the only two Republican presidential candidates to quickly condemn Trump after the indictment, according to Politico.