Republican Vice-President President wannabe Nikki Haley is trotting out a long-used stock GOP talking point. In the dwindling GOP primary candidate field it looks like it’s coming down to a contest between Haley and DeSantis for second place. Now, DeSantis has no more chance of getting the nomination (should Trump keel over one day, or get convicted and cause GOPers to scramble for an alternative) or even being Trump’s VP pick than I do of betting nominated to be Commandant of my Marine Corps. Frankly, Haley has no chance of being Trump’s VP pick either. However if the GOP finds itself in need of an “emergency” replacement for Trump candidate Haley is now poised to contend for that.
Someday books will be written about why she didn’t just sit out this cycle by making a few perfunctory pronouncements about whomever (even Trump) the GOP nominee wound up being. Trump made it clear he was running and it was equally clear he’d get the nomination and the GOP would go down like the Hindenburg. Hayley after all got away from the Trump administration with little Trump stench. The former Gov. of South Carolina who had solid approval back home and even some positive national vibes over her overseeing the (finally) retirement of the Confederate flag from the statehouse went to NY as our U.N. Ambassador and pretty much stayed there. Minimal meetings and photo ops with Trump. More importantly when she left he said nice things about her and just as importantly didn’t take shots at her tenure in subsequent years.
Well, despite her being plenty young enough to make a run in 2028 she decided to try now. She started sucking up to Trump even which pretty much ruined the potential she had to gain strong consideration from Independent voters. Many have speculated she was angling to be Trump’s VP. I’ll not speculate on her chances of that, but will say had things played out that way whether or not Trump won she’d never have made it into the Oval Office herself. (Unless she was VP and Trump died. Maybe that’s what she calculated) Here’s the thing though. Unlike most Governors who try to make the jump to President as U.N. Ambassador Haley had an actual foreign policy credential to hype.
Which brings me to why I’m writing this. Hayley is again trotting out her “The world’s on fire” line according to MSNBC. The article opens by mentioning Haley used the line during the most recent debate but also noted she’s used it repeatedly. But her point the other night was that there are crises happening and it’s ALL the current administration’s fault. The article goes on to note she has plenty of company, citing a WaPo article about other GOP candidates (and Republicans) spouting the same crap:
Haley’s line is a staple of her stump speech, but her GOP competitors have pushed the same message. Donald Trump recently declared at a rally, “The whole world is blowing up.” Similarly, Gov. Ron DeSantis delivered a speech last month on foreign policy in which the Floridian added, in reference to international affairs, “Chaos abounds.”
The author of the linked article makes it clear that from the WH perspective this is something they have been prepared to deal with, and their response is (and will be) to the effect that a steady, experienced stateman like Joe Biden is exactly what we need instead of ANY of what the GOP is offering. There’s some comfort I suppose in that being true. However the article goes on to make a larger point by asking “When was the last time the world wasn’t on fire?’
After all it points out almost a decade ago Senator Graham, and then a year later Senator Cruz us the same “the world is on fire/about to blow up” rhetoric. Of course, when a Republican is in the WH neither (nor have other Republicans) offered up even a hint of such hyperbolic rhetoric. During Trump’s time there were big messes that could have gotten out of control. Syria. Yeme. Engagements in Africa which got little attention. North Korea. China’s relentless expansion in the Pacific. And don’t get me started on the Bush 43 years where what could and should have been a quick and limited fight in Afghanistan to capture and kill Bin Laden (they HAD him cornered, and credible reporting says we had someone 800 yards away who could have taken him out) and let him get away. And we wound up in a full-blown middle eastern war destabilizing the entire region.
It’s a tired old GOP trope when a Democrat is in the WH. There is ALWAYS an armed conflict in the world that needs containing. I don’t care how old you are, name me a Presidency in your lifetime when there wasn’t! However, Haley in particular is counting on voters, particularly Independents saying to themselves “Hey. She was U.N. Ambassador. Maybe she’s got friends/contacts still, and knows stuff the rest of us don’t know. AND, maybe she could do a better job than Biden.”
She can’t of course. But that’s not stopping her shoveling this b.s. and who knows? If for some reason Trump winds up flaming out (one way or another) and conservatives get desperate for a new front person to run next year I can see major donors backing her. So the WH and the rest of us better be prepared to slap down her nonsense.
An increasingly threadbare rinse repeat, Nikki. Is there any capacity and ability for originality? Yes, yes, yes, noooo!
Do you think she meant her pants were on fire? I mean, all the lying done by the g.q.p. that makes one hell of a lot more sense. If or when the world actually IS on fire, it will be because of ‘pube policies.
I did like her putting Vivek What’shisnamey in his place for bringing up.her daughter. That an is a disgusting ,gross, creepy misogynist