Nikki Haley slams Trump for trying to torpedo congressional border deal

• GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley criticized former President Donald Trump for his attempts to blow up an important border security bill for political gain.
• The border deal has been deadlocked in Congress for months as lawmakers struggle to compromise.
• Some Republicans worry that passing the deal now is a political risk because it would deliver President Joe Biden a victory during an election year.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley took aim at GOP frontrunner Donald Trump on Sunday for his attempts to further delay a bipartisan border deal that has been deadlocked in Congress for months.

"Donald Trump, the last thing he needs to do is tell them to wait to pass the border deal until the election. We can't wait one more day," Haley said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

She joins a chorus of calls for Congress to hurry up and reach an agreement on border security. Notably absent from the people demanding lawmakers strike a deal: Trump. He has been vocal about urging GOP lawmakers not to pass the border bill unless it checks every box on the Republican party's wish list.

"Please blame it on me, please, because they were getting ready to pass a very bad bill. I'd rather have no bill than a bad bill," Trump said at a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Delaying the deal in an election year allows Trump to keep blaming President Joe Biden, his likely opponent in the 2024 general election, for the ongoing border crisis and preserve one of his essential campaign talking points.

"The fact is that if Joe Biden truly wanted to secure the border, he doesn't really need a bill," Trump said Saturday.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been going back and forth on the deal since at least October when Biden initially