Watch Nikki Haley Try to Defend Trump to a Crowd of Women That Clearly Despises Both of Them
MSNBC’s Greta Van Susteren, who was interviewing Haley, pointed out that while Trump has been critical both of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and of President Obama’s handling of the crisis, “we have not heard much from him on Russia. Why?”
Haley was clearly taken aback as a beat of silence went by but quickly composed her face into a bemused “I’m happy to be here!” smile. The crowd responded by cheering on Van Susteren, who responded by immediately softening the question to ask what Haley thinks the US should do about Russia.
“I think, first of all—keep in mind I work for the Trump administration,” Haley started. “And if you haven’t heard me talk about Russia—I have hit Russia over the head more times than I can count.”
But when Haley tried to claim that “the two things that Russia doesn’t want to see the U.S. do is strengthen their military and expand energy, and the president has done both of those,” the audience started booing.
Attendees at the session tweeted that Haley was booed multiple times. At one point, an attendee interrupted to shout out: “What about refugees?” This was a likely reference to the fact that, though Trump has expressed his horror at the situation in Syria, he has also staunchly refused to allow any refugees affected by the crisis to come to the United States.
Haley’s face only changed slightly. Van Susteren didn’t make her answer the question.
This picture says it all: