LOS ANGELES.–GOP Presidential candidate Nikki Haley, 51, denied at a Fox News town hall meeting Jan. 8 that she ever said the retirement age of 65 was “way too low,” until host Bret Baier presented her with a Aug. 24, 2023 video clip, one day after the first GOP debate in Milwaukee, that “65 was way too low.” Haley commented about what can be done to save Medicare and Social Security, the nation’s two most costly entitlement programs. “The way we deal with it,” Haley said at the time “is don’t touch anyone’s retirement or anyone who’s been promised in, but we go to people like my kids in their twenties when they’re coming into the system, and we say the rules have changed,” Haley said, not knowing that the current age to receive full retirement benefits is 67 years-of-age. Whatever the discrepancy, it shows that Haley plays fast and loose with the facts.
Fellow GOP candidate biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, 39, accused Haley many times on the debate stage of misrepresenting the facts on various topics. Haley was so rattled by Ramaswamy’s criticisms that she actually called him “scum,” for saying her daughter used TikTok. “I have never once said that,” Haley said, referring to her statement that “65 was way too young.” Voters need to digest Haley’s Dec. 28, 2023 remarks when she was asked about the cause of the Civil War by a town hall audience member. Haley said it was about states’ rights and freedom, never mentioning anything about the Civil War. Haley was the Gov. of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, knowing the history of her state that actually voted in 1861 to secede from the union before the Civil War. So, Haley missed the answer on two counts, slavery and secession.
Ramaswamy was particularly critical of Haley in the GOP debates largely because after a strong debate performance in Milwaukee, Haley started to chip into his lead, one time running in third position, next to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis currently holds a slim lead heading into the Jan. 15 Iowa Caucuses. But Ramawamy’s criticisms of Haley have new validity given his recent memory lapses about changing the U.S. retirement age or the age at which a retiree can take Social Security and Medicare. When voters try to digest Haley’s credibility, they now have to take into account Nikki’s gaffes, showing that she’s in the “fake it, till you make it” mode, not ready for primetime. How that affects Iowa’s voters is anyone’s guess but it certainly puts a chink into her rising star status. While there’s no hope for Ramaswamy, it does give DeSantis renewed hope that he can reverse his tailspin.
Haley’s biggest problem in the GOP race has to do with whether or not voters are ready for a woman president but, as Haley said herself, the right woman. Clearly, when former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton ran against former President Donald Trump in 2016, she was eminently more qualified than Nikki Haley. Hillary’s main problem involved her trustworthiness and credibility, something that didn’t bother Democrats but did affect her appeal to Republicans and independents. Hillary was embroiled in her own scandal during the campaign involving her private server where she hired a tech firm to delete some 33,000 emails off her hard drive, largely for the time she was Secretary of State. Trump accused her of hiding a pay-for-play scheme during her time running the State Department. By the time of the 2016 election, Trump won a squeaker.
Republicans want the most unassailable nominee in 2024 to go up against 81-year-old President Joe Biden. While it’s true that Biden has many vulnerabilities in 2024, it’s also true that many voters don’t want to rock the boat when it comes to a second term. Polls consistently show that both Democrats, Republicans and independents find Biden too old to start a second term at age 82. Many voters don’t think he’s done too well in his first term, continuing to make a nightmare of U.S. foreign policy, especially with America’s nuclear-armed adversaries like Russia and China. Biden’s backers, and even GOP members of Congress, don’t seem too concerned about the unending billions Biden spends on the Ukraine War, primarily to degrade the Russian military. Voters should be concerned about the prospects under a second term of WWIII or nuclear war.
Halley’s credibility problems could be overcome if she keeps her gaffes to a minimum between now and the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire primary. Voters have a short memory when it comes to occasional gaffes. When it comes to Biden, most voters are tired of watching the commander-in-chief trip, face plant or make senile comments in public, especially showing he’s disoriented at various campaign stops. Most Democrat strategists see Biden’s public appearances as a liability to his reelection. When it comes to Trump, everyone knows what the media thinks of him, with daily, 24/7 criticism, accusing the former president of destroying U.S. democracy, acting like a dictator. Haley and DeSantis have only a fraction of Trump media problems, though that would change if they receive the GOP nomination. Haley still could pull it off but she’s on shaky ground.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of Onlinecolumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
