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."
