{"id":14896,"date":"2024-01-31T12:47:43","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T12:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/31\/how-nikki-haley-burned-bridges-in-south-carolina-and-still-pulls-punches-against-trump\/"},"modified":"2024-01-31T12:47:43","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T12:47:43","slug":"how-nikki-haley-burned-bridges-in-south-carolina-and-still-pulls-punches-against-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/31\/how-nikki-haley-burned-bridges-in-south-carolina-and-still-pulls-punches-against-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"How Nikki Haley burned bridges in South Carolina\u2013and still pulls punches against Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nikki Haley says she\u2019s staying in the presidential race at least until Super Tuesday, though most of the media now deem the primary over and done with.<\/p>\n

While Donald Trump\u2019s media detractors have found new lines of attack, they can\u2019t deny that his big wins in Iowa and New Hampshire have practically given him a headlock on the nomination.<\/p>\n

But the biggest roadblock in her path is her own home state.<\/p>\n

AS TRUMP EASILY BEATS HALEY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, SHE VOWS TO STAY IN THE RACE<\/strong><\/p>\n

How is it that a former two-term governor is trailing Trump by 20 to 30 points?<\/p>\n

The Trump juggernaut seems close to unstoppable. This Saturday\u2019s Democratic primary in South Carolina (bold prediction: Joe Biden will win) will draw any potential party-switchers away from the GOP contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And the Republican Party, transformed by Trump, is much more conservative in her state than when Haley left office in 2017.<\/p>\n

Even Haley, Trump\u2019s former U.N. ambassador, isn\u2019t predicting victory. She says she simply needs to do better than the 43 percent she won in New Hampshire\u2019s open primary. That\u2019s a tall order.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s an even deeper reality hurting Haley, according to some digging in South Carolina by two veteran New York Times reporters. All this came out during her years as governor, but is new to a national audience.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason, says the piece, that the governor, Henry McMaster, who had been her lieutenant governor, has endorsed Trump. And the House backbencher who she picked for senator, Tim Scott, has endorsed Trump. And the congresswoman whose career was threatened in 2022 until Haley endorsed her, Nancy Mace, has endorsed Trump.<\/p>\n

Haley said last week that South Carolina lawmakers had \u2018no love for me\u2019 because she tried to make state government more transparent and vetoed pork-barrel projects.<\/p>\n

Longtime GOP consultant Chip Feikel told the paper \u2018she was good on economic development but not great on cultivating relationships. She forgot who helped her get here.\u2019<\/p>\n

NEW HAMPSHIRE SHOWDOWN: WHY TRUMP IS CONNECTING WITH VOTERS AND HALEY AND DESANTIS HAVE NOT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps the classic case involved former governor Mark Sanford, whose tenure was ruined by the \u2018Appalachian Trail\u2019 extramarital affair, who agreed to her request for a $400,000 ad blitz to salvage her campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018And then she cut me off,\u2019 Sanford told Politico. \u2018This is systematic with Nikki: She cuts off people who have contributed to her success. It\u2019s almost like there\u2019s some weird psychological thing where she needs to pretend it\u2019s self-made.\u2019<\/p>\n

Ouch.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another way to look at this: \u2018Haley and her supporters attribute the hard feelings she left in her wake to jealousy, sexism and the sense that a young woman of color had simply not waited her turn.\u2019<\/p>\n

But clearly, the accumulation of complaints reflects a pattern of burning bridges and alienating allies, even if it also depicts her as a fighter.<\/p>\n

While Haley has sharpened her rhetoric against the former president, regularly calling him \u2018unhinged,\u2019 she is still pulling her punches.<\/p>\n

On Sunday\u2019s \u2018Meet the Press,\u2019 when host Kristen Welker asked whether the $83-million verdict in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case was \u2018disqualifying,\u2019 Haley answered in process terms:<\/p>\n

\u2018I absolutely trust the jury. And I think that they made their decision based on the evidence. I just don\u2019t think that should take him off the ballot.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the third try, Welker asked: \u2018Why give him a pass on this issue, where a jury has found him liable for sexual abuse?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m not giving him a pass on anything,\u2019 Haley said before pivoting to Trump\u2019s supposed decline as a 77-year-old. Everyone supports juries. What she did not do was address the substance of the accusations, which Trump continues to vehemently deny.<\/p>\n

Welker moved on: \u2018He has mocked your birth name. He has suggested you\u2019re not eligible to be president because your parents weren\u2019t born here. Of course, you are eligible. You were born here\u2026What do you make of him bringing back this birther playbook against you? Do you think it will work in South Carolina and win over voters there?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I mean, honestly, Kristen, I laugh every time I see one of his tweets, every time I see him throw a temper tantrum, because I know Donald Trump very well. When he feels insecure, he starts to rail. He starts to rant.\u2019 She completely ducked the question.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

Welker, again: \u2018Would you go so far as to call those attacks racist, Ambassador?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I think that\u2019s for everybody else to decide.\u2019<\/p>\n

Haley has obviously made a calculated decision not to criticize Trump too harshly on personal matters. She undoubtedly believes that could turn off MAGA voters who might defect to her. But with less than a month to go before her home state primary, the try-not-to-offend-anyone strategy isn\u2019t working.<\/p>\n

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE\u2019S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY\u2019S HOTTEST STORIES<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is outrageous and unacceptable. The feds must step up efforts to trace those making these reckless calls and make sure they get significant jail time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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