Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley walked back comments she made about Texas possibly seceding from the U.S. during an interview on CNN.
Haley joined CNN host Dana Bash for an interview on State of the Union, where she was pressed about comments she made during the Breakfast Club radio show last week.
Haley told the show’s host Charlamagne Tha God that states have the ability to leave the Union, claiming, “If that whole state says, ‘We don’t want to be part of America anymore,’ I mean, that’s their decision to make.”
Bash ask the last GOP primary challenger whether she still believes states can leave the union, Haley clarified “They can’t,” citing the Constitution.
BASH: This week, you told radio host Charlamagne Tha God that you believe states have the right to secede from the union. Now, I know you’ve said that is unlikely, but this is a pretty important issue that I want you to clarify as somebody who wants to be president. Do you really think individual states have the right to leave the USA?
HALEY: Well, he was talking about a conversation from 13 years ago during the time when I was a Tea Party candidate. States were very upset about government control. They were very upset about government spending. They were very upset about the fact that they weren’t listening to the people.
And there had been a movement that Texas had wanted to secede from the Union. And what I said is when government stops listening, let’s remember states rights matter. You have to be as close to the people as possible. No one is talking about seceding. That’s not an issue at all.
What we are talking about, the fact is, here you have Governor Abbott and the people of Texas who just want to be kept safe. They’re putting up barbed wire to keep people coming in. And the idea that the federal government is wanting to sue them and cut that barbed wire, when we’re trying to make sure that we keep people out.
That’s a huge mistake because, one, we want the deterrence so that they know not to make the trek to America in the first place. But two, we also want to make sure that Texans are kept safe. So that’s what the conversation was about.
BASH: I didn’t realize this, but the current Texas Republican Party platform, it was added in 2022, does call for a statewide voter referendum on whether Texas should, quote, “reassert its status as an independent nation.”
So I just again, wanted because this is such a foundational issue. I want to clarify for voters. You want to be president of the United States. Do you think that any state has a right to secede?
HALEY: No. According to the Constitution, they can’t. What I do think they have the right to do is have the power to protect themselves and do all that Texas is talk about. Talked about seceding for a long time. The Constitution doesn’t allow for that.