A campaign ad from former president Donald Trump attacked former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, claiming she did not support Trump’s border wall or the Trump Administration travel ban for certain countries.
🚨 MUST SEE — New Ad from Team Trump: “Enough is Enough” pic.twitter.com/Nl9x4lgQ0A
— Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) January 4, 2024
Verdict: Misleading
Haley did not support Trump’s initial proposition to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. but did support later revisions of overall bans from certain countries. Haley did criticize some of Trump immigration policies surrounding the border wall, but supporter a more “comprehensive approach” to border security, which did include building the wall.
Fact Check:
Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will be the only two candidates on the debate stage in Iowa this week, CBS News reported. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie did not meet CNN’s qualifications to debate on Jan. 10, while Trump declined to participate.
The ad first claims Haley was opposed to building the border wall, stating,”Haley opposed Trump’s border wall” and cited a Time Magazine article.
Haley did criticize Trump’s approach to immigration policy, Time Magazine reported. She suggested that his position on border security was incomplete. She also objected to some of Trump rhetoric regarding immigration. She said, “if you want to talk about tackling illegal immigration, then let’s talk about it, but we don’t need to attack so many millions of people who came here… and did it the right way, like my parents.”
A Haley campaign spokesperson referred Check Your Fact to a January 8 press release, which states that “Haley supports a border wall and other measures.”
“She opposed building the wall exclusively, arguing that we need a comprehensive approach that includes drones, planes, border agents, infrastructure, and more,” the press release states, citing a speech Haley gave at The National Press Club in 2015.
“Don’t say you’re just going to build a wall because a wall is not going to do it,” Haley said during the 2015 speech. “You’ve got to have commitment of ground troops, equipment, money, all of that to bring it together. Then you’re being serious about tackling illegal immigration.”
The ad also claimed that Haley opposed the travel ban, saying “Yet Haley joined Biden in opposing Trump’s visitor ban from terrorist nations.”
While Haley disagreed with Trump’s initial travel ban position, said ban went through several revisions throughout Trump’s presidency. In 2015 Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Haley denounced the blanket ban, calling it “absolutely un-American” and “unconstitutional,” according to CNN.
When Trump became president, the travel ban was instituted on 7 countries and was not religiously focused, CNN reported. He instituted a ban on people traveling from Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Haley shared her support for this later revision in 2017 on NBC’s “Today,” stating, “It’s not a Muslim ban. I will never support a Muslim ban. I don’t think we should ever ban anyone based on their religion.”
Trump again revised to the ban to include Chad, North Korea and Venezuela, CNN reported. Among others, Haley continued to support this policy, according to NDTV. Haley also defended the travel ban as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 2017, the Washington Times reported. (Did Pope Francis Say That Jesus Was Born During A Census Taken By King David?)
Check Your Fact contacted the Trump campaign for comment. We will update this piece if a response is provided.