Nikki Haley recently appeared on Fox News and teased what seems to be an inevitable run for president in 2024. That would pit the former South Carolina governor against Donald Trump, for whom she served as UN Ambassador from 2017-2018.
In a sit down with Bret Baier, Haley wasn’t really ambiguous. She’s got ambitions, and they are on a crash course with her former boss.
I’m going to say something somewhat controversial and assert that as conservatives go, Haley is mostly fine. A lot of right-leaning commentators like to see the Republican Party in hysterical terms, constantly proclaiming anyone who isn’t super-duper-ultra-MAGA as a “RINO,” but that’s not what the term RINO means. It far predates Donald Trump’s entry into politics, and whether someone fits the mold is dependent on their politics, not their loyalty to a certain person.
I say that to say that my questions about Haley running for president aren’t so much ideological as they are practical. I’m sure she’d appoint the judges that conservatives approve of, and as foreign policy goes, she seemed to have no problem knocking heads around at the UN. Would there be disagreements? Sure, but those existed with Trump as well (i.e. on spending and COVID).
Still, Haley needs to provide more justification for a run than the fact that she’s been planning one for the last six years. Who exactly is her constituency? And what does she offer that other, far more popular Trump alternatives like Ron DeSantis don’t? I don’t think she’s answered those questions sufficiently, and that’s really my problem with her as a candidate.
Haley is as milquetoast as it gets. She’s a focus-grouped politician who has a habit of listening to consultants instead of common sense. Nothing about her feels organic or decisive. That she has a habit of falling into traps set by the mainstream media only exacerbates her issues. Her flaws were perfectly illustrated in a now infamous interview with Politico’s Tim Alberta in which she was baited into multiple attacks against other Republicans that ultimately came back to bite her.
As simplistic as the idea may be, Republican voters want a fighter. They want someone who is going to take it to the left on political and cultural issues alike. That’s why Trump and DeSantis enjoy such popularity within the party.
It doesn’t matter how astute someone is or what their resume contains if the voters don’t trust them to do what it takes to win. Does Haley have that killer instinct? Would she have stood up at the World Economic Forum and told the global elites to pound sand as Trump did? Would she have fought tooth and nail to end Critical Race Theory and gender ideology in schools as DeSantis did? To put it lightly, I have my doubts.