INDIAN-AMERICAN Republican presidential aspirant Nikki Haley has said former president Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 election would result in "four years of chaos, vendettas and drama" that would be dangerous for the US, which needs a captain who will steady the ship, not capsize it.
Haley, 51, launched her strongest criticism of her former boss Trump last week as she addressed an influential group of Jewish Republicans in Las Vegas.
Though she gave credit to Trump for pro-Israel, policies, but asked, "The question is, what will he do in the future?" "History will record that Donald Trump was a pro-Israel president. Getting out of the Iran deal was necessary. Recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital was a wrong made right...I'm happy to give president Trump the credit he deserves. And I was honoured to have played a part in those efforts," Haley said in her address to the Republican Jewish Coalition.
"But as Americans, we need to ask a critical question. We all know what Trump did in the past. The question is… what will he do in the future? We are living through the most dangerous period in our lifetimes," she said.
Referring to the Israel-Hamas and Ukraine wars and violence in other parts of the world, Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and UN ambassador in the Trump administration, said the world is on fire.
She said as a military wife whose husband is currently deployed, and as the mom of two children, nothing matters to her more than stopping war, keeping the peace, and protecting the American people.
"We must defend our freedom - before it's too late. The stakes couldn't be higher. And given those stakes, we cannot have four years of chaos, vendettas, and drama," she said, referring to Trump.
"We can't afford to go down that road - not now. Eight years ago, it was good to have a leader who broke things. But right now, we need a leader who also knows how to put things back together," she added.
America needs "a captain who will steady the ship, not capsize it". And Republicans need a candidate who can win, Haley said.
She said America also cannot afford to let president Joe Biden get re-elected.
"He's bad enough. But even worse is waiting in the wings. A vote for president Biden is a vote for president Kamala Harris. We can't survive a president Kamala Harris," she said.
She also criticised Trump for his comments in the days after the Hamas' attack on Israel, when he criticised Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called Hezbollah, another anti-Israel militant group, "very smart." "These are not good or smart people," Haley said.
"As president, I will not compliment Hezbollah nor will I criticize Israel's prime minister in the middle of a tragedy and war," she said referring to Trump's comments.
"We need to remember what it felt like on September 12 (a day after the September 11, 2001) attacks. America has to get this right. For the sake of our brothers and sisters in Israel. For the sake of the American people," she said.
"We need to wake up. We need to regain our moral clarity. And we don't just need to remind ourselves about the difference between good and evil. We need to commit ourselves to ensure that good defeats evil. That means fighting anti-Semitism in Congress and college campuses. And it means giving Israel everything she needs to destroy Hamas - once and for all!" Haley said.
Ukraine, she said, is a peaceful, pro-American country.
"The dictator of Russia is evil. He is a war criminal who's guilty of genocide," she said, Referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We should give Ukraine what it needs to kick Russia out of its country. To be clear, Israel and Ukraine have significant differences. But they have even more significant similarities," she said.
In both Israel and Ukraine, an evil regime is responsible for starting a war, she said.
"Iran and Russia are joined at the hip. And they're both unlimited partners of Communist China. Iran, Russia, and China are all part of an unholy alliance. They have no problem invading their neighbours. They have no regard for human life," she said.
(PTI)
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