Nikki Haley: 'Diminished,' 'unhinged' Trump has changed since she backed him

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley defended her past support of Donald Trump while deepening her criticism of her main rival for the GOP nomination, arguing that the former president is “more diminished than he was.”

In an interview Tuesday with “TODAY” co-host Craig Melvin, Haley made a generational argument for her presidential candidacy, swiping at both Trump and President Joe Biden to argue that they are both "diminished." And she justified her past support for Trump, during both his two previous presidential campaigns and her service in his administration, by saying he has changed since then.

"During the time that I was in the administration, I called him out every single time," Haley said, arguing that her past support for Trump wasn't unconditional. "If something was wrong — I had a conversation with him about Charlottesville, I had a conversation about something that he would say about women, I had a conversation with him about multiple things.

“The problem now is he is not the same person he was in 2016," she continued. "He is unhinged; he is more diminished than he was, just like Joe Biden’s more diminished than what he was.

"We have to see this for what it is," Haley added. "This is a fact: He is now saying things that don't make sense."

Both Haley and Trump have turned the temperature up as she looks to mount a come-from-behind victory in the GOP presidential nominating fight — and Trump looks to end the contest.

In recent weeks, Haley has repeatedly called Trump "unhinged," accused him of cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, criticized him for confusing her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and declared him "not qualified" to serve as president, among other criticisms.

But her comments