Nikki Haley is not someone I have ever been a huge fan of. She has always been a mild-mannered neoconservative who would have fit right in with George W. Bush’s administration. Still, I have tried to be kind. In other articles I have described her as “fine”, and given her a fair chance, even though she is far from the national politician I would prefer.
All of that was wiped out on Wednesday, along with the remnants of her fledgling campaign for president. Haley’s tone-deaf and ill-advised attack against Ron DeSantis was one of the worst I have ever seen. She urged the multi-national corporation, which is woke, to move to South Carolina.
Who needs enemies when you have party members such as these?
Hey @Disney, my home state will happily accept your 70,000+ jobs if you want to leave Florida.
We’ve got great weather, great people, and it’s always a great day in South Carolina!
SC’s not woke, but we’re not sanctimonious about it either. pic.twitter.com/uf1PWQjGc5
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) April 26, 2023
Haley personified everything wrong with the modern GOP in just a few short seconds. Haley’s stunt was a cowardly one. She could have done the right thing and supported DeSantis in his play (or, at least, shut up and let him do his job) and shown Republicans that she is reliable and can deliver when it comes to tough battles. She chose to support a company that openly boasts about grooming and hatred of people with traditional values.
This should have been an easy lay-up. This should have been a topic on which all Republicans could agree. What did Haley actually do? It was the weakest and most selfish thing you could imagine. It’s even more embarrassing that she copied Trump’s “sanctimonious attack” against DeSantis. Is this woman a true original, or just the product of a team of consultants? This is a rhetorical question because we know the answer.
You may want to ask yourself, based on what Haley did just now, can you really trust her to take on the deep state? To corporate tyranny? To social media censorship? To threats from abroad? She would not do anything other than fold to the first request of her donors if it benefited her personally.
To be clear, this is what it’s all about. She thinks that if she gives in to Trump and slams DeSantis enough by siding with Disney she will be nominated for vice president. This is a clumsy attempt to boost her self-esteem after her presidential bid flopped.
Even in a primary election, some things are off-limits. This includes fluffing up far-left opponents in order to score cheap shots on a member of the party who is much more popular and effective. If Haley is playing that game, then she can fade away as the manufactured non-entity she is.
Again, I tried to play nice. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt despite my concerns. That’s all over, and the gloves are off. If she wants to go down this road, then let’s go down it.
