Nikki Haley Says She Would Pardon Trump If He Is Convicted

Nikki Haley said that she would be inclined to pardon former president Donald Trump if he is convicted of federal charges.

Trump was arrested and booked on Tuesday at the Miami federal courthouse. The arraignment follows a 37-count indictment claiming that Trump mishandled classified White House documents, attempted to obstruct justice and lied to FBI agents about his actions.

Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, spoke on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton radio show about her feelings on the documents case.

Although she believes it premature, she said that she would consider pardoning Trump, should he be convicted.

“When you look at a pardon, the issue is less about guilt and more about what’s good for the country,” said Haley. “And I think it would be terrible for the country to have a former president in prison for years because of a documents case. So I would be inclined in favor of a pardon.”

This statement comes after Haley accused Trump of putting “all of our military men and women in danger.”

Since the investigation on Trump was launched and his subsequent indictment on Thursday, GOP presidential candidates have been forced to make decisions about if and how they will fold the case into their campaigns.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Florida) has chosen not to attack Trump himself, but rather to speak out against the case as a whole. He is following the Republican narrative that the Department of Justice is unfair and motivated by a Democratic agenda.

“Is there a different standard for a Democratic secretary of state versus a former Republican president?” asked DeSantis in a speech, referring to Hillary Clinton. “I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country. Let’s enforce it on everybody and make sure we all know the rules.”