Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley’s campaign has insisted she made a slip of the tongue when urging the US in an interview to “align” with Russia.
“This is completely ridiculous, she obviously misspoke. No one has been tougher on Russia than Nikki Haley,” spokesman Ken Farnaso told a US news network on Saturday.
When asked to comment on the matter, Haley herself called Russia an “enemy”, adding, “I fought them at the UN, and I will continue to fight them; they want to destroy us and our allies and they are not to be trusted.”
The remarks come after the former US ambassador to the UN touched upon regions of the world to which she felt America could pay more attention in a televised interview. Haley referred to “the Arab world,” saying that the US wants Arab countries “to kind of join with us” on opposing Iran.
“You see Saudi Arabia making deals with China, that’s not good for us. We need them to be with us, and then we need to align with others, Russia, Australia, Japan, Israel,” she added.
When serving as the UN’s US envoy under the Trump administration, Haley had repeatedly lashed out at Russia and the country’s President Vladimir Putin.
“We don't trust Russia; we don't trust Putin; we never will. They're never going to be our friend. That's just a fact,” the ex-South Carolina governor told a US broadcaster in 2018.
14 February 2023, 18:18 GMT
The 51-year-old is known for retracting on her previous pledge that she would not go up against her former boss, Donald Trump, in the 2024 election. A U-turn came earlier this year when Haley cited, among other things, the need for "generational change" before announcing her presidential bid in February.