Nikki Haley Warns Republican Party Is Ship With Hole in It

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley warned on Monday the Republican Party is a "ship that has a hole in it" over Donald Trump and the state of the Republican National Committee (RNC).

Ronna McDaniel resigned as the chairwoman of the RNC on Monday amid months of mounting criticism of McDaniel's performance in the role, particularly from Trump supporters. Her resignation is expected to take effect March 8, three days after Super Tuesday.

However, since reports of McDaniel's resignation, Trump has endorsed his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who is married to Eric, for the role of RNC co-chair.

Meanwhile, Haley has been trailing Trump in the 2024 presidential run as she recently lost to the former president in South Carolina on Sunday. Trump won the state with 59.8 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press. Haley, the state's former governor who is also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, garnered 39.5 percent of the vote share and has vowed to keep fighting despite facing calls to drop out of the race.

In an interview with Fox News The Story With Martha MacCallum on Monday, Haley pointed to the state of the RNC and reports that funds from the RNC will go towards paying for Trump's legal expenses.

"Look at what's happening to the party, the RNC now before the primary is over, he is going in and has booted out the chair, he's putting in his daughter-in-law, he's putting in his campaign chairs as an operative, but more than that he's pushing to have the RNC be just about him...and it's all turning into his legal flush fund," Haley said.

Newsweek has reached out to Haley's and Trump's campaign via email for comment.

"That is not what we are supposed to see in our Republican party this is a ship that has a hole in it. It is going to sink. We are going to lose in November and go towards the socialist pact if we don't right the ship and that's really what I'm trying to get out to Republicans and Americans," Haley added.

Haley's comments come after Lara Trump previously told Newsmax that, if she were elected to the position of co-chair, she would ensure that the RNC would use its "every penny" on working to reelect her father-in-law in November.

"If I am elected to this position, I can assure you there will not be any more $70,000, or whatever exorbitant amount of money it was, spent on flowers," she said. "Every single penny will go to the number one and the only job of the RNC. That is electing Donald J. Trump as the president of the United States."

However, Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, said on Friday he won't pay the former president's legal expenses with funds from the RNC.

Trump, the GOP frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination, was fined roughly $355 million by Judge Arthur Engoron in his New York civil fraud case, which accused Trump, his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, The Trump Organization and two firm executives of fraudulently overvaluing assets to secure more favorable bank loans and taxation deals. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and claimed it was politically motivated, vowing to appeal the verdict.

Engoron's judgment comes weeks after Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million to former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll for damaging her reputation after she accused him of sexually assaulting her during an incident in the 1990s. A separate jury last year awarded Carroll $5 million from Trump for sexual abuse and defamation. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in those cases and vowed to appeal them as well.