New York, Oct 31
Nikki Haley, who ran a prolonged, but unsuccessful, battle against former President Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, has criticised his campaign strategy as “overly masculine” turning off some women, but offered to pitch in.
“This is not a time for them (Trump campaign) to get overly masculine with this bromance thing that they've got going (when) 53 per cent of the electorate are women,” Haley, who became the first Indian American to become a US cabinet member, said in an interview to Fox News on Tuesday.
According to a USA Today poll, women backed Harris by a margin of 17 per cent, while Trump led among men by a margin of 16 per cent.
Speaking a week before the election that polls indicate is tied, she said, “Women will vote. They care about how they're being talked to and they care about the issues. They need to remember that. This is a time of discipline and this is a time of addition.”
But she clarified that “there’s no bad blood between me and the president”.
“We want Donald Trump to win. I respect his campaign and what they need”, she added.
Haley said that Trump’s campaign had not reached out to her, but “they are very aware that we are on standby -- they know that we would be there to help”.
In contrast to Haley, the first Hindu elected to Congress, Tulsi Gabbard, is actively involved in the Trump campaign and reportedly helped Trump prepare for his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.
She formally announced at a rally with Trump that she is joining the Republican Party and has been canvassing for him in swing states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
A lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, Gabbard served in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2021 as a Democrat.
She made an unsuccessful run for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2020.
Haley also criticised the way some backing Trump insulted women and minorities.
“This bromance and this masculinity stuff, it borders on edgy to the point that it’s going to make women uncomfortable,” she said, using a colloquial term for “romance of brothers”, meaning male bonding.
She referred to the racist jokes about Latinos and Puerto Ricans and sexist attacks on Harris at Trump’s Sunday Rally at the Madison Square Garden, as well as an ad that plays on an extremely ugly double entendre against her.
The New York Times reported that when the Republican vice presidential candidate was asked why she wasn’t campaigning, he said he did not know and that he is open to her joining.
Haley was the last candidate to drop out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
After a bitter campaign of harsh rhetoric on both sides, she ended her run in March and endorsed Trump.
Haley served for two years as the US Permanent Representative to the UN, which is a cabinet-level position in the US.
