Haley on Trump lawyer assassination theory: 'That's ridiculous'

GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley called the argument from former President Trump’s attorney that the assassination of political rivals is protected by presidential immunity “ridiculous.” 

Haley said at the CNN GOP presidential debate Wednesday that common sense needs to be considered when evaluating what is protected under presidential immunity and what is not. 

“That’s ridiculous. That’s absolutely ridiculous. We need to use some common sense. You can’t go and kill a political rival and then claim immunity from a president,” she said. 

Her criticism came after Trump attorney John Sauer argued before a panel of D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judges that the president would be protected from prosecution if they ordered SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival if the president were not impeached and removed by the Senate first. 

“He would have to be impeached and convicted,” Sauer said Tuesday. 

He was responding to a hypothetical question from a judge about the limits of presidential immunity. Trump’s legal team argued the former president should be shielded from prosecution in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation because he is immune. 

Trump has said all conduct he took while in office should be protected by presidential immunity. 

Haley said the country does not need the “chaos” that has happened in the past anymore and instead needs a leader to bring “sanity” back to the country. She has previously attacked Trump for the “chaos” following him and his candidacy and emphasized the need for the country to move on from it.