Democratic strategist James Carville on Sunday slammed former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley as “spineless” for supporting former President Donald Trump’s re-election bid.
He noted that Haley made a strong case for Taiwan in an interview Sunday morning on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” but maintained her support for the former president despite his past hints that he might not defend Taiwan.
“I saw Nikki Haley on the other show this morning. Oh my gosh. She was talking about how much she loves Taiwan, and (the anchor) pointed out that Trump said, ‘Well, Taiwan doesn’t matter. It’s 6,500 miles away. Let China do what they want,’” Cavill said on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki” on Sunday, recapping Trump’s past comments.
“And she started talking about Afghanistan,” Cavill continued. “Does that woman have no courage at all? If she does, it’s not particularly noticeable to anyone.”
“I don’t know if she’s spineless or gutless, but one or the other is definitely true for her,” he added.
In an interview with Bloomberg last summer, Trump said he thought Taiwan should pay a protection fee to the U.S. “Taiwan is incredibly wealthy,” he said. “I think we’re kind of like an insurance policy.”
“Taiwan is 9,500 miles away. It’s 68 miles from China,” Trump said in a July interview.
In an interview that aired Sunday, Haley was asked about Trump’s comments on Taiwan and said she agreed with Trump that the U.S. does not need to send troops to Taiwan, but advocated helping Taiwan as much as possible “economically, militarily and diplomatically.”
Asked whether she agreed with Trump’s suggestion that Taiwan pay the United States for defense, Haley said: “No. I would be the first to say that’s not right.”
“There is no perfect administration by any means,” Haley said in an interview. “But the Trump administration has certainly been stronger on national security than the Harris administration.”
Carville’s criticism of Haley comes amid a larger discussion this week about the significance of endorsements for Harris by former Vice President Dick Cheney (R-PA) and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who was the third-ranking House Republican before being ousted after speaking out against Trump’s 2020 election lies.
Haley has mounted a fierce primary challenge to Trump’s 2024 candidacy, surprising some when she announced her support for the former president. She was a vocal critic of Trump during the campaign and has similar foreign policy views to Cheney.
“I think the endorsement of Reese and Vice President Cheney, and many others, will give permission to traditional Republicans, perhaps people from outside the state, people who dislike Trump, people who have never voted Democratic, to say, ‘Okay, I can do this,’” Carville said. “And it’s not a huge number of people, but it has the potential to be very helpful.”
“People are like, ‘Hey, I’m going to have to hold my nose. I don’t know if I can do this. Oh, shit, Dick Cheney’s doing it. I think I can do it,” Cavill added. “And I think that’s important, he’s not being vague.”
Congress reached out to Haley’s team for answers.
