Lara Trump Has Made Her Feelings About Nikki Haley Crystal Clear
Just like her father-in-law, Donald Trump, Lara Trump hasn't exactly shown herself to be a shrinking wallflower. And one of the ways she's letting the world know exactly what she thinks about Nikki Haley.
As political watchers will likely already know, Lara is a Republican National Committee (RNC) co-chair, and, up until March 6, Haley was a Republican presidential candidate who was willing to run against Donald in his bid to become President of the United States for a second time. Haley announced her decision to officially end her campaign during an appearance in her home state of South Carolina though, stating, "The time has now come to suspend my campaign. I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that. I have no regrets."
One person we're guessing was probably pretty happy to hear that news? Lara Trump. Let's just say that she hasn't had the nicest things to say about Haley — and she hasn't been afraid to make those feelings all too clear to anyone who will listen.
Lara Trump slammed Nikki Haley's presidential hopes
The month before Nikki Haley announced she'd no longer be in the running to be president, Lara Trump slammed her campaign and made it clear she wasn't so thrilled about the idea of Haley going up against Donald Trump. "At a certain point, you have to ask yourself when it's obvious that Nikki Haley will not be the Republican nominee — there really is no path to that for her at this point — then why stay in a race? Why fight against the Republican nominee, the person who is leading the party?" Lara scathingly asked Fox. She then called out Haley for refusing to publicly support her father-in-law Donald amidst his multiple legal woes. "Any person who is not standing up and fighting back in the face of that, calling it out for exactly what it is — election interference — should not be running for President of the United States," Lara said. Tell us how you really feel!
Lara seemed to have a bit of a change of heart in a short amount of time, though. That's because, in December 2023, she pegged Haley as a potential running-mate for Donald during a Newsmax interview, also noting that she didn't think Haley could beat him. "I think Nikki Haley has to be a little careful in South Carolina, that's her home state. Probably Donald Trump is going to win South Carolina, and Nikki Haley is going to come in second," she predicted.
Nikki Haley doesn't seem to be a fan of the Trumps either
You probably won't be surprised to hear that Nikki Haley isn't exactly Lara Trump's biggest fan, either. Nor is she a fan of her family, for that matter, despite claims that Haley seemingly once had a friendship with the Kushners. In February, Haley was asked to respond to Lara's scathing take on her presidential run. She didn't back down, taking aim at Donald Trump himself. "I mean, it should be a wake-up call for Republicans all over this country," she said on "This Week." "I mean, you look at the fact that we saw in his campaign reports that he used $50 million of campaign contributions to pay for his personal court cases. Then he tried to get the RNC to name him the presumptive nominee," she said. Haley then bluntly added, "We don't anoint kings in America."
Haley's team has some bones to pick with Lara, too. Betsy Ankney, a top aide in Haley's now-defunct presidential campaign, put Donald's daughter-in-law on serious blast while speaking to press in February. "I think it's pretty telling that Lara Trump said that the one and only focus of the RNC is Donald J. Trump and has said that there is an appetite among Republican voters to pay his legal bills. I think that they're in for a rude awakening," she said. Yeah, we're guessing Lara and Haley probably won't be sharing a hug at a Donald Trump rally anytime soon.