'America Can Do Better': Nikki Haley Criticizes Donald Trump After $83.3 Million Defamation Verdict

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has criticized ex-President Donald Trump after a civil jury awarded $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll in her defamation case.

The jury in New York ruled on Friday, January 26, that Trump must pay the amount for defaming Carroll, who previously received $5 million in damages from the GOP frontrunner after he was found liable for sexually abusing her in the 1990s.

Haley, who is one of the few remaining contenders against Trump for the Republican nomination, took the opportunity to scrutinize him on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Donald Trump wants to be the presumptive Republican nominee and we're talking about $83 million in damages," she posted following the announcement of the verdict on Friday evening.

"We're not talking about fixing the border. We're not talking about tackling inflation. America can do better than Donald Trump and Joe Biden," she continued.

This criticism came after Trump defeated Haley by a double-digit margin in the New Hampshire primary and secured more than half the votes in the Iowa Caucus.

According to Real Clear Politics, nationally, Trump is polling at an impressive 70.3% while Haley is 57.7 points behind at just 12.6 support from likely GOP voters.

In the past, Haley has voiced her concerns about Trump's legal issues, stating that he brings "chaos" wherever he goes. Earlier this month, she told CNN that if Trump is found guilty, "he needs to pay the price."

The damages awarded to Carroll include $7.3 million in compensatory damages, $11 million in "reputational repair," and $65 million in punitive damages.

The case revolved around Carroll's allegations in a 2019 article that Trump had raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s.

Trump vehemently denied the accusations and launched a series of attacks on Carroll on Truth Social, which led to her suing him for defamation and a separate civil claim for the alleged rape.

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As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the Republican National Committee was planning on naming Trump the presumptive GOP nominee for president after just two contests in the Republican primary.

Trump was allegedly behind the move, but spoke out against it after considerable push back.

In an appearance on Fox & Friends, Haley criticized Trump for trying to name himself the nominee already. She described him as "totally unhinged" and accused him of behaving like a definitive "Washington insider."