Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, told Newsmax on Tuesday that the reported conditions at the infamous Rice Street Jail in Atlanta, where former President Donald Trump was booked last week, are "unacceptable."
Last month, the Department of Justice opened an investigation into the Fulton County, Georgia, jail known as Rice Street based on "credible allegations that an incarcerated person died covered in insects and filth," that it is "structurally unsafe," that widespread "violence has resulted in serious injuries and homicides," and that "officers are being prosecuted for using excessive force."
"They should move them [the inmates] completely," Haley said during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Record with Greta Van Susteren." "They should move them out of there and give them more of a safe place, especially if they haven't been convicted yet. I mean, this is something where you can't have those kind of conditions for people who are innocent until proven guilty. And look, the Fulton County Jail has a reputation for being a rough place, but you can't have innocent citizens sitting there and dealing with those conditions. They should move them right away."
When asked if letting people sit in jail in those conditions is a dereliction of duty on the part of Attorney General Merrick Garland, Haley said, "There's a lot of things happening at the Department of Justice that has been a dereliction of duty."
"There are a lot of things that we have to question," she said. "Quite honestly, I think we not only need to change the head, you need to clean out all of senior management because what's happening within that agency is unacceptable, and no one trusts it. The American people no longer trust the Justice Department. They don't trust our intelligence agencies. This is another example of that and the fact that President Biden's allowing that to continue to happen. This is on his watch. It's on his watch, and he should be made to answer for that."
The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations also commented on Republican nomination rival Vivek Ramaswamy's attempt to mock her given Indian name. On Monday, Ramaswamy fired back at Haley over her debate comments about his view of the U.S-Israel relationship.
"Keep lying, Namrata [sic] Randhawa," Ramaswamy wrote in a new section of his campaign website.
Haley's maiden name is Randhawa, while her given Indian first name is Nimrata. She has gone by Nikki, her middle name, since childhood.
"I think it's childish, and I think it's pathetic," she said. "Nikki was my name on my birth certificate; it's the name that I was raised with. I married a Haley, and that's why it's Nikki Haley. But look, he's living in a fantasy world. He's the one that said he wanted to abandon Israel, and I said that that's ludicrous. You can never abandon Israel when they're a partner that is the front line of defense to Islamic terrorism. He says that he wants to go and make sure that he gives Russia part of Ukraine so that they will stop being friends with China. That's just naive."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.