LOS ANGELELS.–Heading into the Jan. 15 Iowa Caucuses, 51-year-old former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley tries to recover from her Dec. 28. 2023 gaffe saying the primary cause of the Civil War was states rights and individual freedom. Haley was slammed for not mentioning slavery as the primary cause of the Civil War. While Haley tried to walk back her comments, she was governor of South Carolina [2011-2017], a slave state voting to secede from the union in1863, the year President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, calling for the abolition of slavery. Lincoln was president from 1861 to 1865, the year he was assassinated by Southerner John Wilkes Booth. Haley was well-aware of her state’s history of promoting and preserving slavery yet didn’t have the presence of mind Dec. 28, 2023 at a campaign event to say slavery was a primary cause of the Civil War.
Walking back her remarks, Haley said “of course slavery was a cause of the Civil War,” but only because she was called out by the press, but, more importantly, by 44-year-old Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and 61-year-old former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Both GOP rivals sought to capitalize on Haley’s gaffe, with some criticizing her for her South Carolina lineage. Now that Iowa Caucuses are less than two weeks away from the Jan. 23 New Hampshire Primary. Polls show Haley picking up ground on former President Donald Trump with the endorsement of 49-year-old New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. Haley has been reluctant to criticize Trump since running for the GOP nomination, leading many to think she would accept Trump’s VP pick. Given her recent statements against Trump, it’s doubtful he would pick her over 52-year-old South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.
Haley played it safe avoiding criticizing Trump, letting Christie do the dirty work, knowing it was killing his campaign. Haley sees no political advantage to criticizing Trump, leaving it to the Democrat-controlled press frequently inviting Christie to hammer Trump on national TV. “I don’t talk about opponents. I never have. I don’t think you want to hear it,” Haley said, knowing there’s plenty of liberal media outlets thriving on negative 24/7 anti-Trump coverage. Haley hopes Newer Trump Republicans and Christie’s following jump on her bandwagon. Trump leads Haley by 22%, something not likely to change much in the next two weeks. “She wants to appeal to the people who haven’t made a decision yet . . . and so she’s showing strength,” said New Hampshire GOP strategist Dave Carney. “I don’t know if it’s too late,” knowing there’s two weeks left to the New Hampshire primary.
Haley hurt herself Dec. 28, 2023 not saying that slavery was the primary cause of the Civil War. How much her gaffe helped DeSantis isn’t yet fully known, even though she now heads into Iowa leading DeSantis for the first time. GOP voters look comfortable backing Haley over DeSantis, now running nationally behind Haley at 10.9% compared with Haley at 11%. Trump leads national polls by a whopping 62.7%, an insurmountable lead at this point. Christie rebelled against calls for him to resign to give Haley the best shot at catching Trump in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. “I have seen the commercials you see. I’ve seen the little temper tantrums that he’s thrown,” Haley said, referring to Trump’s ads accusing her of trying to raise the South Carolina gas tax. Haley fired back at Trump, saying he raised the national debt by $8 trillion.
Haley knows that Trump was caught between a rock-and-a-hard-place during the Covid-19 crisis, following advice of Dr. Anthony Fauci to shutdown the government for nearly a month. Whatever growth in Trump’s economy, it all ground to a halt during Covid, adding to the national debt. GOP voters don’t trust Haley that she would not accept Trump’s VP pick. Haley refuses to categorically rule out a pick, prompting Christie to stay in the race. Christie runs at 3.3% in national polls, leaving him no path forward. Yet he refuses to drop out because he doesn’t see Haley following in his anti-Trump footsteps. Haley’s GOP critics see her as playing it safe, sitting on the fence when it comes to Trump. But as Haley says, no one wants hear her opinion about Trump. Christie never got the message that his Trump-bashing campaign turned off a lot of voters, leaving him dead in the water.
Haley finds herself unable to make up much ground on Trump, largely because his loyal following sees the election as the preservation of the Constitution and U.S. democracy. Trump’s backers see him as framed by the government, trying to interfere with the 2024 election. Haley’s has broad appeal if Trump were to call it quits. Trump would only throw in the towel if he saw no chance of winning the nomination. As it stands now, Trump is the prohibitive favorite to with the GOP nomination and face-off again with Biden in 2024. Biden is confident that the vast majority of Democrats will put him back in the White House in 2024. Haley at this points looks like the last best hope for the Never Trumpers but can’t stop Trump’s momentum heading into 20204. GOP voters want to test Haley’s sincerity asking her to pledge she would not serve as Trump’s VP. So far, she won’t make that pledge.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColunist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
