Haley slams Trump 'drama' after Jan. 6 probe target letter

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley slammed the “drama” surrounding former President Trump as a “distraction” in the 2024 Republican primary race, after Trump said Tuesday that he had been notified that he is a target of the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 investigation.

“It’s gonna keep on going,” Haley, Trump's former U.N. ambassador, said in an interview on Fox News. “I mean the rest of this primary election is gonna be in reference to Trump. It’s gonna be about lawsuits, it’s gonna be about legal fees, it’s gonna be about judges, and it’s just gonna continue to be a further and further distraction.” 

“That’s why I am running,” she continued. “It’s because we need a new generational leader. We can’t keep dealing with this drama. We can’t keep dealing with the negativity. We can’t keep dealing with all of this.”

The former president said in a Truth Social post Tuesday that he had received the “target letter” Sunday evening, giving him four days to appear before the grand jury in the Jan. 6 investigation, if he wishes to do so.

While it has long been apparent that Trump’s actions were a central focus of the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 probe, a target letter often indicates that prosecutors are likely close to bringing charges. 

Haley, who was the governor of South Carolina before joining Trump's administration, pointed to several foreign and domestic policy issues Tuesday that she thinks deserve greater attention than the former president’s many legal woes.

“We’ve got China that’s literally trying to be at war with us. You’ve got Iran building a bomb. You’ve got North Korea detaining a soldier and testing ballistic missiles. We need to focus on the debt and the lack of transparency in schools and crime and the craziness on the border,” she said. “We can’t be sitting there focused on lawsuits over and over again.”

If Trump is charged in the Jan. 6 probe, it would be the third time this year he has been indicted. He is also facing charges in relation to a hush money case in New York City and his handling of classified documents after leaving office.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a staunch anti-Trump candidate who is also vying for the Republican nomination, emphasized Tuesday that he has “said from the beginning that Donald Trump’s actions on January 6 should disqualify him from ever being President again.”

“Anyone who truly loves this country and is willing to put this country over themselves would suspend their campaign for President of the United States immediately,” Hutchinson said in a statement posted to Twitter. “It is disappointing that Donald Trump refuses to do so.”