Nikki Haley Says Trump’s Criminal Cases Need to ‘Play Out’ – But Pledges to Pardon Him Anyway if He’s Convicted

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley told CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Thursday that former President Donald Trump’s criminal cases would need to “play out” before she would pardon him if she is elected president and Trump is convicted.

During CNN’s town hall with Haley in Henniker, New Hampshire, Tapper asked, “On accountability, if you become president and Donald Trump’s trials are still ongoing, would you preemptively pardon him without waiting for a conviction the way that Gerald Ford did for Richard Nixon?”

Haley – who as president would have the power to pardon Trump only for federal offenses – replied:

No. I think everything needs to play out. I think it’s important that that happens and I honestly think President Trump would want that to happen. If he wants to defend himself and prove that he has been treated, you know, the wrong way or whether it’s political, I think he would want to fight for that. You know, you only want to talk about a pardon after someone has been convicted, so I would assume that we’d let that play out and I would think he would want that to play out.

Tapper asked, “If he were convicted, would you then pardon him?”

Haley responded, “I said I would pardon him with the simple reason of, you know, when you talk about a pardon, someone’s already been found guilty, but for me, the last thing we need is an 80-year-old president sitting in jail because that’s just going to further divide our country.”

She argued, “This is no longer about whether he’s innocent or guilty, this is about the fact how do we bring the country back together, and I am determined to make sure all of this division, all of this chaos goes away, and I think a pardon for him would make all of that go away and I think it would be healing for the country.”

Trump is currently fighting four separate legal cases: charges in New York for allegedly falsifying business records, federal charges over his retention and handling of government documents, and two indictments – one federal and one state – over his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

A new poll published by the American Research Group this week found Haley and Trump tied at 40% in New Hampshire.

Watch above via CNN.