Nikki Haley Challenging Trump ‘Took Courage,’ White House Says

Nikki Haley’s call to Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump to tamp down on his anti-immigrant rhetoric won praise from Republicans and Democrats alike, but the real estate mogul was not amused.

Trump told msnbc that Haley is a very nice woman, though they have not spoken in a while. That is just not true.

Appearing as a guest on Wednesday’s CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello, during a discussion of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley giving the Republican response to the State of the Union, Daily Beast Executive Editor Noah Shachtman asserted that Governor Haley is a “super-conservative” who is trying to prevent the GOP from going “fascist” and “white nationalist”.

During her speech, Haley asked the American public to resist following the “angriest voices”, but did not refer to Trump by name. “But I disagree with her politically and obviously she disagrees with me politically on immigration”, Trump said. “Her willingness to stand up and speak out against that took some courage, and it was rather conspicuous given the willingness of a lot of other leading Republicans to either ignore it or to try to sweep it under the rug. And that is what she should be judged on”, the Washington state Republican told reporters.

Haley has yet to make any endorsements in the race, but her support could prove influential.

Except that’s very clearly not what Haley meant. “I do think it’s important that Americans know that difference”. “That’s a big decision”.

“Mr Trump has definitely contributed to what I think is just irresponsible talk”, Haley said on the Today show Wednesday morning.

In her response, while criticizing Obama on a number of issues, Haley also made a series of apparent references to Trump, including calling on Americans to ignore “the angriest voices” on the subject of immigration.

“Well, considering I’m leading in the polls by a lot, I wouldn’t say she’s off to a good start” to be his vice presidential candidate, Trump said.

“But I also think her goal was to respond to the president and be more specific in just pointing out that his comments on how great the economy is, how strong our military is”.

“For one thing, it’s nearly absolute proof of what I have been saying for last couple years now, that the Republican Party’s trying to drive conservatives out of the party”, Limbaugh said on his show Wednesday. Their messages are not too different from what has been heard from some of the mainstream presidential candidates, notably former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. And it means welcoming properly vetted legal immigrants, regardless of their race or religion.