Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says that, if elected, she would pardon former President Donald Trump of any federal crimes.
Haley, according to ABC News, said as much during a town hall event that she did in Plymouth, New Hampshire, on Thursday.
There, an audience member - a 9-year-old - asked Haley about whether or not she would pardon Trump if she were to be elected president in 2024. Haley responded in the affirmative.
"A leader needs to find out what's in the best interest of the country What's in the best interest of the country is not letting an 80-year-old man sit in jail," she said.
Haley continued, "That continues to divide the country. What's in the best interest of the country would be to pardon [Trump] so that you can move on as a country and no longer [be] talking about that."
This all may be somewhat moot as the polls would suggest that Haley is a longshot candidate to become president in 2024.
Real Clear Politics currently has Haley trailing Trump, in the Republican Party presidential primary polls, by over 50 percentage points, on average. Trump is the frontrunner, receiving 62.5% support, while Haley is in third place, receiving 11% support.
To Haley's credit, she has been gaining ground on the Republicans' second-place candidate - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). DeSantis is currently sitting on 11% support, which means that, on average, Haley only trails DeSantis by 0.3 percentage points. DeSantis's lead over Haley used to be significantly bigger.
That being said, DeSantis is not the frontrunner. Trump is, and Haley has not really gained any ground on Trump.
New Hampshire is one of the early stops on the primary calendar. With just weeks to go until voting begins, Haley and other candidates have been making frequent visits to the state.
It is worth pointing out that Trump's lead in the polls is not as big in New Hampshire as it is nationally. Polls only have Trump leading Haley by 30 percentage points in the state. Still, this will likely be enough to get the job done.
Haley is not the only Republican presidential candidate who has been asked the pardon question recently. The question has also been put to DeSantis.
ABC News reports:
DeSantis has declined to answer that questioned directly when he's been asked, but earlier this month he said he would be against putting "an almost 80-year-old former president in prison" as it wouldn't be "good for the country."
Trump is currently facing four criminal cases and over 90 felonies. He and his supporters have maintained that the charges are all political - that the Democrats are trying to use the legal system to interfere with his presidential campaign.
