Republican Presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Friday that former President Trump won’t debate her because she will call him out on “lying.”
During an appearance on “Fox & Friends” Friday morning, the former U.N. ambassador was asked about Trump’s claim that she has “no chance” of winning the White House. She answered by touting her legislative track while governor of South Carolina and calling him out for “lying” about her record.
“We’ve got to start telling the truth,” Haley said. “And the problem with Donald Trump and Joe Biden is they think if they tell Americans something, then it’s the truth. But the problem is, both of these guys are lying to the American people, and the American people deserve the truth.”
Haley went after Trump for claiming that she is not a “conservative”, saying that he ballooned the nation’s debt and praised Chinese leader Xi Jinping even after blaming China for the global spread of COVID-19.
She also defended her record on Social Security and pointed to Trump’s own past support for raising the retirement age for the program.
“He proposed a 25-cent gas tax increase on all Americans. He put us $8 trillion in debt in over four years, and our kids will never forgive us for that,” Haley said.
“But the fact that Donald Trump’s lying,” Haley said, “it’s another reason why he won’t debate me, because he knows I’ll call him out on it.”
Trump skipped all five debates leading up to the Iowa caucuses, where he ended up with record-breaking 51 percent of the vote, easily carrying the Hawkeye State.
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Haley has vowed not to participate in any future ones if Trump isn’t on them, leading two planned debates against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to be cancelled.
Haley has been rising in polls ahead of the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23, and has sought to frame the primary as a two-person race.
According to the latest The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling average, Trump has support from 45.6 percent of New Hampshire GOP primary voters, Haley is at 35 percent, and DeSantis is far behind at 5.8 percent.
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