Nikki Haley opposed Donald Trump’s candidacy for president in 2016, criticizing his unwillingness to denounce the KKK at one point. However, she continued to serve as a United Nations ambassador during his administration.
Image of Mark Wilson/Getty
hide captions
switch captions
Image of Mark Wilson/Getty
Nikki Haley opposed Donald Trump’s candidacy for president in 2016, criticizing his unwillingness to denounce the KKK at one point. However, she continued to serve as a United Nations ambassador during his administration.
Image of Mark Wilson/Getty
One obvious theme in President Nikki Haley’s announcement was unity. Many times, her third announcement video reference brings people together.
One example she uses for emphasis is the state’s response to hate.
In 2015, a white supremacist killed nine Black parishioners at Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC Haley, who was governor at the time, led the state through the tragedy. .
“We have turned our backs on fear to God and the values that still make our country the freest and greatest nation in the world,” she said, via video footage of her and her husband. leaders joined hands to fight that crime.
YouTube
Haley is the first candidate to challenge former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. She’s also one of a number of potential candidates with a clever way to justify voters: vehemently oppose Trump, then embrace him and now, run against him.
And for Haley, the subject of race highlights how her political views have changed. After the Charleston shooting, Haley famously signed legislation removing the Confederate flag from the state capitol complex.
“For those who want to show respect to the flag on their own property. No one will stand in your way. But government buildings are different,” she said shortly after the shooting. “Today, we are here in a moment of solidarity in our state without malice in saying it’s time to lower the flag from the grounds of the Capitol.”
Haley enjoys bipartisan respect for that decision. Former Democratic Governor Jim Hodges said he spoke with Haley during that time and believes she recognized the need to lower the flag, despite having never previously supported that cause.
“I think it’s probably safe to say it might not be on her priority list for a second term in terms of things she’ll focus on,” he told NPR. “The timing presented that opportunity, and I think she should be credited for acting quickly.”
Haley’s Original Arguments Against Trump and Racism
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, right, waves as she and her husband, Michael Haley, left, are introduced at Governor Henry McMaster’s second inauguration on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, in Columbia , SC As governor, Haley signed a bill to remove the Confederate flag from the state Capitol grounds.
Meg Kinnard/AP
hide captions
switch captions
Meg Kinnard/AP
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, right, waves as she and her husband, Michael Haley, left, are introduced at Governor Henry McMaster’s second inauguration on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, in Columbia , SC As governor, Haley signed a bill to remove the Confederate flag from the state Capitol grounds.
Meg Kinnard/AP
Haley often considers the moment after the shooting a pivotal period in her governorship. When endorsing then-presidential candidate Marco Rubio in 2016, she spoke about the effort surrounding the flag’s removal in a speech critical of candidate Donald Trump.
“The KKK came to South Carolina from out of state to protest on our state campus,” she told the crowd at a Rubio event. “We saw and looked at real hate in Charleston last year. I’m not going to stop until we’re fighting a man who chose not to give up the KKK. That’s not part of the story. It’s not our party. It’s not who we want to be president. We won’t allow that in our country,” she added, to loud cheers.
But less than a year later, she assumed the position of US Ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration and became a prime example of Trump’s reshaping of the party.
Trump puts racial outrage at the forefront of American politics, on issues ranging from immigration to policing to education. And support Trump has been correlated with certain racist beliefs.
“Root” the Union flag
When the Confederate flag was lowered in South Carolina, Haley reconciled with the residents of the state, who saw the flag as a symbol of their heritage, not of racism. She has maintained that view in more recent statements.
But in a 2019 interview with Glenn Beck, she was heavily criticized for adding that Charleston gunman Dylann Roof imbued the flag with racist connotations.
“This is the guy who made his manifesto, held the Confederate flag and just robbed everyone of everything that came to mind,” she told Beck. “We don’t have haters in South Carolina. There’s always been a small minority there, but people see it as service, sacrifice, and legacy. But once he did that, There’s no way to get over it.”
Teresa Cosby, a professor of political science at Furman University in South Carolina, thinks that claim is outrageous.
“And where did Dylann Roof get it from?” she asked. “Where did he get this association, the Union flag, with white supremacy and racist ideology? It didn’t come out of thin air. He didn’t steal anything. What.”
Furthermore, Haley’s statement to Beck contrasts with her 2015 stance that the flag “should never have” in the capital city.
All of this comes amid a GOP controversy over whether Confederate monuments should stand in the South, not to mention Trump assumes multiple positions on the Confederate flag. – for example, he supported its removal in South Carolina, and then got angry when NASCAR banned it at its events.
Haley as a historical candidate
Haley’s own race plays a big part in her announcement video — she begins by talking about her own racial experience in the town of Bamberg, SC
“I’m the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. Not black, not white. I’m different,” she said. “But my mother always said, ‘Your job is not to focus on differences, but on similarities.'”
This is another distinctive nod to unity. Haley was the first woman of color to become the primary candidate for the Republican nomination, and she acknowledged her differences… and then immediately criticized the Democrats for being divisive. race, alluding to Project 1619 and progressive lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
But just treating the Democrats as the enemy won’t unify all Republicans – especially those who are disgusted with what the Republican Party has become. Doug Brannon is a former Republican lawmaker in South Carolina who led the 2015 charge to remove the confederate flag.
Brannon told NPR: “Trump allows people to say things that before him they felt they couldn’t say. “He gave them a mouthpiece and because of him, they were encouraged.”
Brannon sees Trump as a symptom of a broken Republican – “I don’t think there’s a Republican anymore” – and says he still doesn’t know if he will vote Republican or Democrat in 2024.
Trump supports what it means to be a Republican, as well as what careful mean.
Teresa Cosby at Furman University points out that Haley is often mistaken for a moderate but for now, becoming more radical could attract more primaries in a range of red states, including South Carolina .
“The battle is between Republicans in the primaries. And so you don’t have to pay any penalty for playing along with the far-right ideology that is being replicated at the national level, in the states. states like Florida and Texas,” she explains.
In that vein, Cosby doesn’t think Haley’s removal of the confederate flag will help her win the nomination.
“It will score her points with those who want the Republican Party back to normal. But how many of those groups are left in the Republican Party?” she asked.
Haley may not have mentioned it much. While the Charleston shooting was part of her announcement video, the push to lower the Confederate flag was noticeably absent.
