What Nikki Haley Gets Right about the Trump Campaign

Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley’s diagnosis of what ails the Trump campaign is simple: “Quit whining” about Kamala Harris. In a Tuesday night sit-down interview with Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier, the onetime governor of South Carolina catalogued the Trump campaign’s failures since Joe Biden left the race. Her verdict establishes what may soon become the conventional wisdom that explains how Donald Trump lost a presidential race that was his to lose.

“I want this campaign to win, but the campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes,” Haley added. It won’t win by talking about “what race Kamala Harris is,” or “whether she’s dumb.” And it won’t be won if Trump, J. D. Vance, and his allies continue to double down on appeal to voters who make up the MAGA movement. “Republicans need to be fighting for suburban women, for college-educated [voters], for independents, for moderate Republicans, and for conservative Democrats,” Haley concluded. “The American people are smart. Treat them like they’re smart.”

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley’s diagnosis of what ails the Trump campaign is simple: “Quit whining” about Kamala Harris. In a Tuesday night sit-down interview with Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier, the onetime governor of South Carolina catalogued the Trump campaign’s failures since Joe Biden left the race. Her verdict establishes what may soon become the conventional wisdom that explains how Donald Trump lost a presidential race that was his to lose.

“I want this campaign to win, but the campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes,” Haley added. It won’t win by talking about “what race Kamala Harris is,” or “whether she’s dumb.” And it won’t be won if Trump, J. D. Vance, and his allies continue to double down on appeal to voters who make up the MAGA movement. “Republicans need to be fighting for suburban women, for college-educated [voters], for independents, for moderate Republicans, and for conservative Democrats,” Haley concluded. “The American people are smart. Treat them like they’re smart.”

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.