Newly declared GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley had a golden opportunity to differentiate herself from 2024 opponent Donald Trump on Fox News Wednesday. (Watch the video below.)
She verbally danced instead. Host Sean Hannity asked her more than once to name where she and Trump part on policy. Haley dodged more than once.
The former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador under Trump officially announced her candidacy earlier in the day. She promised to move Americans “past the stale ideas and the faded names of the past” while calling for competency exams for pols over 75.
The remarks could be considered digs at both President Joe Biden, 80, and former president Trump, 76.
But she went to great lengths to avoid rattling Trump’s cage on Fox News.
“If you had to delineate where, say, you and President Trump differ on issues, where would you start?” Hannity asked.
Haley replied that her candidacy “makes liberals’ heads explode” and offered this non-answer: “Look at everything that’s wrong in this country and tell me we don’t need new leadership. But the difference is we need new generational leadership. We have to leave the status quo. We have to leave this chaos behind and we’ve gotta start talking about the future.”
Haley said she would tackle issues such as grocery prices, children set back by the COVID pandemic and spy balloons. She said too many people in Washington are “past their prime,” repeating her calls for term limits and testing for lawmakers over 75.
Hannity tried again to engage Haley on what separates her from Trump.
“Where do you see — if you see — policy differences beyond what you mentioned, which are generational differences? What specific policy areas would you say part with Donald Trump?” Hannity asked.
Haley ducked again.
“What I am saying is I don’t kick sideways,” she said. “I’m kicking forward. Joe Biden is the president. He’s the one I’m running against.”
Haley is set for multiple primary battles against Trump in the 2024 race, but that seemed to skip her mind.
Her evasiveness regarding Trump has surfaced on “Hannity” previously. It may reflect the delicate balance GOP candidates must maintain to avoid angering the former president’s resilient base.