'It's not personal': Nikki Haley downplays Trump's attack on her husband's Army service

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was confronted in her CNN interview on Thursday about former President Donald Trump's attacks on her husband's military service, at a moment when he was deployed overseas trying to control Houthi pirate attacks.

Haley, who endorsed Trump and spoke at the Republican National Convention after a bitter primary in which she called him unfit to serve in the office, downplayed Trump's attacks on a personal level, even as she admitted she considered it abhorrent to attack people over serving their country.

"There was a moment when Donald Trump mocked his absence, basically suggesting that he was away for some other reason, to get away from you, I think he said," said anchor Jake Tapper. "What was that like?"

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"For me, it's not personal," said Haley. "I know Donald Trump, he's going to throw something just to kind of get people upset. And I think he got pushed for that."

However, she added, she does feel bad in general for disrespected military servicemembers.

"I mean, when they serve, it's a sacrifice ... their lives are endangered," she said. "There's a lot there and we should never talk about military personnel in any way that's not putting them on a pedestal, because we are free because of them, we are living in a great country because of the sacrifices that were made. And I think that's one that, we need to always just cherish the soldiers that fight for us."