DOVER, New Hampshire — As part of her closing remarks to Granite State voters, Nikki Haley revisited the early support she got from Otto Warmbier’s mother.
The Haley campaign spotlighted Cindy Warmbier in a three-minute TV spot that blanketed the New Hampshire airwaves, as she moves toward a high-stakes showdown with former President Donald Trump.
“When we asked the Obama administration for help, they told us to shut up and be patient. Nikki tells us otherwise. He told me it was okay to be as scared as I am now, but I had to push through that fear,” Cindy Warmbier said in a statement highlighted by the ad.
Otto Warmbier was arrested in North Korea in 2016, when he was a college student.
He was later released back to the US in 2017 with severe brain damage and eventually died at the age of 22.
The spot comes as Haley’s team is relying heavily on a strong showing in New Hampshire to prove she has what it takes to take on former President Donald Trump.
Trump and Haley have been at odds over North Korea since his departure as US ambassador to the UN.
Nikki Haley met the Warmbiers during her time at the UN. AP
The 77-year-old former president is trying to improve relations with North Korea’s Kim Jung Un.
He met her in 2018 and 2019.
“I don’t believe that he is [Kim] would allow that to happen,” Trump said in 2019, suggesting Kim was not responsible for Otto Warmbier’s condition.
Otto Warmbier being escorted to a North Korean facility in 2016. AP
“And some very bad things happened to Otto – some very bad things. But he told me he didn’t know about it, and I’ll take him at his word.”
Haley, who had just finished her tenure in the Trump administration at the time, split with Trump on the matter.
“The American people know the brutality inflicted on Otto Warmbier by the North Korean regime. Our hearts go out to the Warmbier family for their strength and courage. We will never forget Otto,” Haley posted on X.
Americans know the atrocities committed by the North Korean regime against Otto Warmbier. Our hearts go out to the Warmbier family for their strength and courage. We will never forget Otto. ❤️??
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 28, 2019
Otto’s parents Cindy and Fred and Warmbier at United Nations headquarters in 2018. AP
Both Haley and Trump have stepped up their attacks on each other ahead of the New Hampshire primary.
This week, the two Republican presidential candidates appeared to be refusing to join the ticket.
“He’s not a presidential stick,” Trump said in Concord, New Hampshire, Friday. “Now when I say that, that probably means he won’t be elected vice president.”
Earlier in the day, Haley also took the possibility of the VP job off the table.
Donald Trump is the favorite heading into next Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. Reuters
“I don’t want to be anyone’s vice president. That’s off the table,” Haley said in Amherst, New Hampshire, the Washington Post reported.
For months, Haley and avoided the question.
Some of Trump’s closest allies have worried about the prospect and warned of a rebellion.
The New Hampshire primary will take place next Tuesday.
Trump is far ahead with 46.8%, followed by Haley at 33.3%, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 6% in New Hampshire, according to the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
