Attacking Harris on basis of gender or race is not helpful, says Nikki Haley

WASHINGTON: Attacking Vice President Kamala Harris, presumptive nominee of the Democratic party, is not helpful, Republican leader Nikki Haley said on Thursday and insisted that she needs to be criticized based on her policies.

“It's not helpful. It's not helpful. I mean, we're talking about a liberal senator who literally has not accomplished very much and what she was given she didn't do much with. You don't need to talk about what she looks like or what gender she is to talk about that. The American people are smarter than that,” Haley told CNN in an interview.

She was responding to a question on the attack on Harris based on the colour of her skin and gender.

“Talk about the fact that she doesn't believe in fracking. Tell that to the voters in Pennsylvania. Talk about the fact that she doesn't want to talk about paying down debt. She wants to increase taxes. Tell that to the American people. Talk about the fact that consumer prices have gone up 19.5% since Joe and Kamala were in office,” she said.

“Talk about the fact that she's always sided with the Palestinian protests instead of our friend Israel. There are so many issues we can talk about when it comes to Kamala Harris. It doesn't matter what she looks like. It matters what she said, what she's fought for, and the lack of results that she's had because of it,” Haley said.

The former Republican presidential candidate, who lost to Donald Trump in the primary race, said she was not surprised when Democratic nominee and incumbent President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, paving the way for Harris to be on the party’s ticket.

“I wasn't surprised and I didn't take happiness in it. Through the whole campaign, I fought for mental competency tests. I wasn't doing it to be disrespectful. I wasn't doing it to be mean. I was doing it because I think it's not just Joe Biden. There is an issue that we have in DC where people will go into office and they won't let go. And then their staffers and their family keep propping them up and it's a problem for the American people,” she said.

“So, I never thought he would make it to the election. I always said a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris, and I think that's what's playing out,” she said.

Haley, the former South Carolina Governor and US Ambassador to the United Nations, said the Democrats are very smart to put in a younger candidate.

“I think that that's what America has craved. But I think what you look at is they put in the weakest candidate they could put in,” she said.

“You look at the fact that Kamala.. she had one job. That was to deal with illegal immigration and the border. She didn't do it. She was the most progressive Senator that we had next to Bernie Sanders. You can see it playing out, whether it's the fact that she didn't show up at Bibi's speech yesterday, whether it's the fact that she pushed for all this government spending, whether it's the fact that when she was in California, the most liberal state, there was no tax she didn't propose. There was nothing that she didn't want to see,” Haley said.

“All of her, the things she's doing from not wanting fracking to not wanting oil drilling, all of these things are incredibly liberal. And she is much more progressive than Joe Biden ever was. So, the fact that they put in Kamala Harris, kudos for putting in someone younger. The fact that you put in one of the most liberal politicians you probably could have put in it's going to be an issue,” Haley said.