Newly announced GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley had a golden opportunity to differentiate herself from her 2024 opponent Donald Trump on Fox News Wednesday. (See the video below.)
He verbally danced instead. Host Sean Hannity asked him more than once to name where he and Trump part in policy. Haley dodged it more than once.
The former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador under Trump officially announced his candidacy earlier in the day. He promised to move Americans “beyond stale ideas and lost names” as he called for a competency exam for the over-75 poll.
The note can be considered a dig at President Joe Biden, 80, and former president Trump, 76.
But he did his best not to upset Trump’s cage at Fox News.
“If you had to determine where, say, you and President Trump differ on an issue, where would you start?” Hannity asked.
Haley replied that her candidacy “makes liberal heads explode” and gave a non-existent answer: “Look at everything that is wrong in this country and say we don’t need new leadership. But the difference is we need a new generation of leadership. We have to leave the status quo. We we need to leave this mess behind and we need to start talking about the future.
Haley said she would address issues such as grocery prices, children being held back by the COVID pandemic and spy balloons. He said many people in Washington are “over men,” repeating calls for term limits and probation for lawmakers over 75.
Hannity again tried to engage Haley on what separates her from Trump.
“Where do you see — if you see — policy differences beyond what you mentioned, which is generational differences? What are the specific policy areas that you would say with Donald Trump? asked Hannity.
“What I’m saying is I don’t kick sideways,” he said. “I’m running. Joe Biden is the president. He’s the one I’m running against.”
Haley is set for several major battles against Trump in the 2024 race, but it seems unlikely.
His evasiveness about Trump has come up on “Hannity” before. It may reflect the balance GOP candidates must strike to avoid angering the former president’s resilient base.