Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and Trump ambassador who is running for president, is a spineless blob.
I previously pointed out here that she sucks up to Trump (or, more precisely, his adoring voters). This is true even though she’s challenging him for the 2024 GOP nomination.
You’re expect a challenger to criticize her opponent, and point out his weaknesses, but Haley won’t do that. This time, she refused to acknowledge that a jury found Trump legally liable for sexually assaulting a woman and then defaming her (read story here).
Asked whether a sexual predator should be president, Haley responded, “I was not on the jury. I am not the judge.” Pressed about the verdict against Trump, she answered, “It stands where it stands.”
What it amounts to is Haley won’t stand up for women who are sexually abused by powerful men. So how could we possibly trust her to stand up for a country like Ukraine when it’s attacked by a predator like Putin? How can we trust her to stand up for right versus wrong? We can’t.
Haley isn’t going to be president, for the reasons I listed here. In addition, she’s weak, lacks principles she’s willing to defend, and has made a series of political blunders by insulting senior citizens (here) and the working poor (here), pushing for Social Security “reform” that favors the rich (here), endorsing Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s toxic “woke” rhetoric (here), and defending southern secession (here).
Also, bragging about “kicking unions” (here) won’t endear her to swing voters; and this gutless wonder wouldn’t even acknowledge her own race, but instead called herself “white” on her voter registration form (see story here).
It’s discouraging. The Republican Party badly needs rescuing from the jaws of Trumpism. But Haley is not a quality candidate, would not govern well if elected, and is no real alternative to Trump or DeSantis. She’s just a weak shadow of them.