Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley appeared in a Sunday-aired interview on CBS to promote her upcoming memoir, “With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace.”
During the interview, which touched on numerous topics, Haley defended President Trump against impeachment, and said she understood his controversial remarks to “the Squad,” despite finding the remarks themselves “ not appropriate.”
Host Norah O’Donnell first mentioned impeachment, asking: “Do you think ultimately the president will be impeached and removed from office?”
Haley replied, wondering on what grounds President Trump could be impeached:
No. On what? You’re going to impeach a president for asking for a favor that didn’t happen and giving money – and it wasn’t withheld? I don’t know what you would impeach him on. I mean, look, Nora, impeachment is like the death penalty for a public official. When you look at the transcript, there’s nothing in that transcript that warrants the death penalty for the president, and I think that –
O’Donnell interjected, noting that “it was not a complete transcript,” and that “there are still things that are missing from it,” adding that in the trabscript, Trump says “I would like you to do us a favor though.”
Haley continued:
The Ukrainians never did the investigation, and the president released the funds. I mean, when you look at those, there’s just nothing impeachable there, and more than that, I think the biggest thing that bothers me is the American people should decide this. Why do we have a bunch of people in Congress making this decision?
Haley isn’t alone in her thinking. Some commentators, such as Erick Erickson, have suggested that this matter should be left to the American people.
In one of his most recent columns, Erickson wrote: “Given the political nature of impeachment, I find it quite reasonable that something could be impeachable in 2018 or 2019 but not impeachable less than 365 days from the general election. In politics and political processes, timing matters. Let the voters decide. Impeachment seems foolhardy and will become a more divisive issue in an already bitterly divided nation.”
Guy Benson, the political editor of Town Hall, recently argued that instead of impeachment, lawmakers could “censure” the president:
I believe that impeaching and removing a sitting, duly-elected president, especially along party lines, is one of the most draconian and divisive political outcomes for which our constitution allows. Despite a clear shift in public opinion in recent weeks, a good deal of data suggests that an outright majority of the country is still highly reticent about applying that form of punishment to this president, over these actions. This is especially true within the context of a presidential election on the horizon, within less than one calendar year.
O’Donnell then asked Haley about the president’s remarks pertaining to the Squad. “He tweeted this past summer telling the for Democratic female members of Congress – three of whom were born here in the United States – to ‘Go back and fix the crime-infested places from which they came.’ Was that appropriate?”
Haley replied:
No, it’s not appropriate, but I also can appreciate where he was coming from – from the standpoint of don’t bash America over and over and over again, and not do something to try and fix it.
President Trump received significant backlash following his “Squad” tweet.
….and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019
….it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019
Although most of the backlash came from members of the media and the Democratic Party, some elected Republicans voiced their displeasure with the president’s tweets. Perhaps the most direct Republican criticism came from Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX), who said the following: “I think those tweets are racist and xenophobic. They’re also inaccurate.”