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In what many observers see as one of the most questionable and outrageous courtroom decisions, loony-toon liberal E. Jean Carroll, who accused President Trump of “rape” in a dressing room decades ago without evidence or witnesses, scored an $83 million award. Why? Simply because President Trump defended himself online and apparently hurt Ms. Carroll’s feelings. The verdict, which came from a jury in a city well-known and very proud of its anti-Trump hate and liberal leanings, has been met with disbelief by many. Yet Nikki Haley, who herself faces at least two accusations of infidelity, sides with the jury’s decision. It’s no surprise, really—unscrupulous, lying women tend to stick together.
GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Sunday she “absolutely” trusts the jury in E. Jean Carroll defamation case against former President Trump but that the recent ruling should not bar him from the ballot.
“I absolutely trust the jury. And I think that they made their decision based on the evidence. I just don’t think that should take him off the ballot,” Haley said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I think the American people will take him off the ballot. I think that’s the best way to go forward, is not let him play the victim. Let him play the loser. That’s what we want him to do at the end of the day,” the former United Nations ambassador continued.
[…]
When pressed further Sunday by host Kristen Welker on whether the recent ruling should disqualify Trump in the race, Haley said it’s up to the voters to decide.
“I don’t think he should be taken off the ballot. I think the American people will decide if he’s disqualifying or not. We don’t do that, Kristen, in America,” Haley responded. “Anybody that wants to run can run. And I think that’s really important. We have seen a lot of people try and infringe on our freedoms and our democracy.”
Well, Nikki, the verdict from the voters is in, and it’s not in your favor. The reason why probably has something to do with stupid statements like this one about the Trump case and also your tendency to peddle failed globalist ideas from the 1990s. Nikki’s fading presence isn’t surprising. She’s become a political relic, a holdover from an era most of us want to forget. Her attempts at being polished often fall flat, and the constant parroting of establishment lines gives off more of a slick salesperson vibe than that of a genuine leader. Even Chris Matthews, who had that tingle running up and down his leg over Obama, had high hopes for establishment Nikki, but he realized the same thing: she’s a scripted puppet, spewing out donor talking points left and right.
Remember how Eugene McCarthy began the human bonfire of President Lyndon Johnson in 1968? Or Bill Clinton pulling off that “Comeback Kid” number in 1992? Or Hillary’s upsetting of Senator Barack Obama in 2016?
That’s what I came to New Hampshire for in ’24. I came expecting to see the lady from South Carolina pull down Donald Trump like she did that Confederate Battle Flag from her state capitol in 2015.
But Haley never did it. She could never rise from the tepid script that chided Trump for overspending rather than denouncing for being a criminal. She could not say he was a walking disaster zone, only that “chaos follows him.” Haley has an interesting story about identity, the Tea Party—of which she was a darling, her time at the U.N., and so on. Her parents did not convert to Christianity like she did. What was that like? She was all over the map on abortion but with little to say that was personal as she aspires to be the first Madam President. She remained enigmatic and two-dimensional when she needed to be fully formed.
Even when driven from her script at one event by screaming environmental hecklers, she could never resist hitting the “Resume” button.
Sticking to the script is just one of Nikki’s many downfalls.
The New York Times compared Nikki to John McCain, another relic from the establishment’s old guard. But honestly, Nikki doesn’t even match up to McCain’s charm—and let’s be real, McCain’s was about as charming as a case of chicken pox.
Mr. McCain’s courtship with the news media, so alien to contemporary Republican politics, yielded the benefit of the doubt from reporters who were grateful for unlimited access. If the occasional slip of the tongue yielded a few bad stories, Mr. McCain dusted himself off and went right back to the reporters in the rear of the bus.
“I mean, if there was a guy from Weekly Reader with a microphone, he would have sat down with him for an hour,” recalled Dave Carney, a longtime Republican consultant.
[…]
The contrast to Ms. Haley was stark. Before she even got to New Hampshire, she canceled a scheduled debate with Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, declaring that her only opponent was Mr. Trump.
The argument might have made intellectual sense for a candidate protecting a lead, but New Hampshire consultants said dropping a major televised event — New Hampshire’s moment in the national TV spotlight — was a huge, unforced error.
She also buttoned up her events, usually taking five questions from voters and often none at all, just a short stump speech and a round of photos. Ms. Haley’s interactions with reporters were few and far between. In the final days, access to some events was limited to a handful of invited journalists.
Nikki was busy courting Democrats over in New Hampshire and forsaking the Republican base, but she couldn’t even do that right, according to the New York Times. It’s a classic case of missing the mark by a longshot.
Where Mr. McCain’s campaign openly targeted independent voters, Ms. Haley’s courtship of the 40 percent of New Hampshire voters who are unaffiliated with a political party felt almost transgressive, as if she feared the attacks from the Trump campaign.
“Show me where I’m moderate,” she demanded at events. Her campaign fielded no “Independents for Haley” signs like the “Independents for McCain” signs that cluttered yards in the southern part of the state, and only late in her campaign did she shift to an argument that Republicans needed to broaden their appeal.
The NYT piece goes on to cite an independent voter who had the same observation as Chris Matthews: Nikki is a scripted, fake puppet.
Colin Carberry, 52, an independent from Dover, thought he would vote for Ms. Haley last week, but he said on Tuesday that he had never felt that she asked for his vote.
“She’s very scripted,” he said. “She’s not a very — I don’t want to say natural politician, but a natural person.”
Nikki Haley might as well take a page out of Hillary Clinton’s book when it comes to warmth and appeal. She’s all about saying what she thinks will score points, thanks to constant poll-testing. But here’s the catch: her focus group is just as out of touch as she is. They’re stuck in the past, not at all in line with the direction the Republican Party is headed. And let’s be real, most people have zero interest in turning back the clock to those dreaded days.
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