John Kelly and Rex Tillerson wanted to 'save the country' from Trump, claims Nikki Haley
Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is one of the few former members of the Donald Trump administration who left office on fairly good terms with the president despite having frustrating foreign affairs moments vis-a-vis the White House.
The 47-year-old who served as the diplomat to the UN between January 2017 and December 2018, has come up with some shocking revelations in an interview.
The former governor of South Carolina, whose new book 'With All Due Respect' is about to be released, recounted in the book a closed-door meeting she had with former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and former secretary of state Rex Tillerson. The two men reportedly sought her help to “save the country” from Trump.
“Kelly and Tillerson confided in me that when they resisted the president, they weren't being insubordinate, they were trying to save the country… Tillerson went on to tell me the reason he resisted the president's decisions was because, if he didn't, people would die. This was how high the stakes were, he and Kelly told me. We are doing the best we can do to save the country, they said. We need you to work with us and help us do it. This went on for over an hour,” Haley, a daughter of Indian immigrants, said.
'Sidebar plan'
Haley condemned both Kelly and Tillerson for going around Trump when they had issues with his policy stands. Both Kelly (July 2017 to January 2019) and Tillerson (February 2017 to Match 2018) were removed from their posts since they could not find themselves on the same page with the president.
Haley’s words on the two former top poster-holders in the Trump administration in the book also came up during an interview with CBS News. She also accused the duo of having a “sidebar plan” against Trump.
“Instead of saying that to me, they should have been saying that to the president, not asking me to join them on their sidebar plan. It should have been, go tell the president what your differences are and quit if you don’t like what he’s doing. But to undermine the president is really a very dangerous thing,” Haley opined.
She even called the action of Kelly and Tillerson as something that went “beyond the Constitution” and was “offensive”.
'Death penalty for a public official'
Haley, who once found herself hopelessly isolated by her own administration after taking a strong stand on Russia, however, backed Trump over the ongoing impeachment drive against him.
Speaking to CBS, she disagreed with the idea that the president will be eventually impeached and removed from office over the whistleblower complaint that he had sought Ukraine’s help to undermine his domestic rival Joe Biden.
"No. On what? You're gonna impeach a president for asking for a favor that didn't happen and giving money and it wasn't withheld? I don't know what you would impeach him on. And look, Norah (anchor Norah O’Donnell), impeachment is, like, the death penalty for a public official. When you look at the transcript, there's nothing in that transcript that warrants the death penalty for the president,” Haley said.
Haley’s pro-Trump remark was seen by many as a calculated move.
Meanwhile, Kelly responded to her accusations saying: "If by 'resistance' and 'stalling' she means putting a staff process in place... to ensure [Mr Trump] knew all the pros and cons of what policy decision he might be contemplating so he could make an informed decision, then guilty as charged," he was quoted as saying by CBS.