Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says that while the Biden administration started the political battle over abortions for service members, she does not support Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) holding up hundreds of military promotions in protest of the administration’s policy allowing expense-paid travel and up to three weeks leave for an elective abortion.

Haley’s position on the issue puts her in line with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has also called out Tuberville on the campaign trail. Republican presidential candidates who support Tuberville’s actions include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, and pharmaceutical executive Vivek Ramaswamy. Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) office “would not say whether he supports Tuberville’s blockade,” The Post and Courier reported late last month.

The “hold” on general and flag officer promotions blocks the Democrat-controlled Senate from approving the nominations quickly and in batches through a “unanimous consent” agreement. Tuberville stressed that the Senate could still hold a vote to approve individual nominations, a process he said would be “very easy to do.”

Haley responded to the monthslong holdout when asked about the matter during a Sunday interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

“I know you have criticized his decision,” Tapper said. “The military says this is hurting readiness. I know, as a military spouse, you know military spouses are really upset about this.”

“Why is the Republican Party tolerating this?” Haley asked.

Haley responded that she disagreed with the reimbursement policy for travel for abortion and said that she would put an end to it if she becomes president.

“Secondly, we don’t need to be using military families as political pawns,” she said. “That’s a mistake.”

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“The military members and families, they sacrifice enough. They don’t need to be a pawn in Congress,” she continued. “But look at the political games that continue to play. Chuck Schumer could still get this done if he went through and listed each member and had Congress vote on each member.”

She later noted that it was the Biden administration that started the entire situation, but “I’m not saying Senator Tuberville is right in doing this, because I don’t want to use them as pawns.”

“But if you love our military, if you are so adamant about it, then go and make Congress, Republicans and Democrats, have to go through person by person,” she added. “Do you honestly think they won’t say, OK, this is ridiculous, let’s put an end to it?”

“They will. But show your true grit by going out there and saying, fine, if you all are going to play the military for the pawns like this, let’s go member by member,” she continued. “Let’s make them pay the price. Let’s make them do their job. Let’s make them suffer so that they know what they’re doing to these military families. This isn’t about making it convenient for Congress. This is about making sure you’re doing right by members of the military. This is making sure you hold the Department of Defense accountable.”

WATCH:

"You think the military is political now? You really want to have the US Senate voting on somebody being promoted?"

CNN's Jake Tapper presses Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley over GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville's ongoing blockade of military promotions. @CNNSotu #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/jFj50ccdkF

— CNN (@CNN) September 10, 2023

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) has given a couple of interviews in recent days in which he talked about his status as an unmarried man while running for president, revealing in both that he has a girlfriend, while also declining to reveal too many details about her just yet.

The second interview, with The Washington Post, was published after Scott told Fox News over the weekend that he has a “wonderful girlfriend” who he described as a “smart Christian woman.”

Scott told the Post that he started dating the girl late last year after his friend from church set him up. The senator said he initially declined his friend’s setup attempt, but then changed his mind after the friend showed him a picture of the woman.

Scott would not give the Post her name, explaining that he does not want to drag “her onto the campaign unless I have the intention of marrying her.”

“I hope that happens, to be honest with you,” he added.

“I have been very protective of my family and my loved ones,” the senator said. “I signed up for this. If we make it, she will be signing up for it as well, but at least then she’ll know what she’s getting into. But until then, the only conversation I’m going to have about her in any form or fashion is right now.”

The Post made a point of noting that while it could not independently “verify that she exists,” and that multiple friends of his did allegedly not know anything about her, Scott’s campaign manager Jennifer DeCasper did confirm that she has personally hung out with the girlfriend at the zoo.

Scott told Fox News in his interview over the weekend that his unmarried status was garnering attention because opponents view him as a political threat as he “rise[s] in the polls.” National polling has largely showed Scott’s campaign hovering in the 2%-4% range in the last month.

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“The headlines are there because as I rise in the polls, as people show up at my my town halls, it scares even my opponents,” Scott claimed. “Everybody wants to find a way to win this race. I’m going to focus on having that optimistic positive message deliver the backbone and staying focused on the American people who say they like me a lot, and I want to make sure they have a chance to make me their president.”