Nikki Haley wants to 'defund the UN as much as possible' but would not support US withdrawal

GOP presidential primary candidate Nikki Haley, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during a portion of former President Donald Trump's White House tenure, has indicated that while she supports defunding "the UN as much as possible," she would not support America withdrawing from the organization.

During an appearance on the Fox News Channel, Haley told Sean Hannity that the reason for not withdrawing from the U.N. is that that the U.S. is one of the five countries with a veto. "And the number of things we were able to stop China, Russia, and Iran from doing with that veto matters. And so you keep bad things from happening. But we don't have to pay at the level that we're paying," she said.

China, France, Russia, the U.S., and the U.K. have veto power in the U.N. Security Council.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also vying for the GOP presidential nomination, has indicated that he would support defunding the U.N.

"We will unequivocally support Israel, take names, make it clear those countries who are hostile to Israel risk their relations with us, and defund the UN," DeSantis said in a post on X. "No longer should American taxpayer dollars support this corrupt, morally bankrupt, hotbed of antisemitism that empowers our enemies and coddles dictators and the worst human rights abusers."

DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin shared DeSantis' post, writing, "Ron DeSantis will defund the UN."

Haley raised eyebrows earlier this week by saying that all social media users "should be verified by their name." She said this would eliminate Russian, Chinese, and Iranian bots and result in increased civility because people would know that their name will appear along with their posts.

Later, during an appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Haley said that she wants free speech for Americans but not for Russia and Hamas. She said "we need our social media companies to verify everybody." While she allowed for anonymous free speech for Americans, she indicated that she does not support the same when it comes to Russians, Chinese, and Iranians.

"What Nikki doesn't support is letting the Chinese and Iranians create anonymous accounts to spread chaos and anti-American filth among our people," Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas noted, according to the Associated Press. "Social media companies have to do a way better job policing that."

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