As I reported a few days ago, the DeSantis camp released an ad compiling multiple clips of Nikki Haley praising Hillary Clinton and attributing her example as an inspiration to make her own foray in national politics — very strange, and repeated, utterances for a Republican presidential hopeful.
Related: DeSantis Camp Releases BRUTAL Ad Exposing Nikki Haley’s Ties to Clinton
Haley recently “clapped back” at DeSantis, as the kids say.
Via CNN (emphasis added):
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Wednesday slammed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for labeling her a candidate of the Republican Party “establishment,” saying his remarks were “what a candidate says when they are losing.”
“There is nothing establishment about a candidate who was the tea party candidate who ran for governor,” Haley said on Fox News, seemingly referring to her 2010 gubernatorial victory. “I think he is saying what he has to say because he is grasping at this point.”
The latest back-and-forth between Haley and DeSantis reflects the intensifying competition between the two presidential hopefuls as they seek to consolidate support and mount a challenge to the current GOP primary front-runner, former President Donald Trump, with less than seven weeks until the first nominating contest in Iowa.
As far as I can tell, there are two distinct possibilities for why these two are attacking each other and not Trump, which are perhaps not mutually exclusive.
The first, and more likely one, is that they are holding out hope that Trump will be sidelined by all of his legal troubles. While they have publicly tepidly criticized these prosecutions for being politically motivated, which anyone can see, you can rest assured that behind closed doors they are beside themselves in anticipation of Trump getting taken out by the Deep State. And shame on them; they can’t win in a straight head-to-head competition, and so they’re hoping the Deep State rigs the game for them. But what else would you expect from the likes of snakes like this? Such is the nature of the politician.
The second, more distant possibility (especially for DeSantis), is that they’re angling for a VP slot or some other cabinet position. I don’t believe there’s really much hope for DeSantis in that department, as Trump has viciously attacked him and appears to very much dislike him. I can’t blame him, given that he plucked DeSantis out of obscurity in the governor’s race primary while DeSantis groveled at his feet, only for the scheming little Judas to turn on him when he was convinced by whispering donor class goblins that he had a shot at overtaking him in 2024. Again, though, what else would one expect from such a creature? This is how politics works. There is no honor among thieves.
People tend to appreciate exposing Nikki Haley and her transparent grifting off of her so-called “public service,” but many get salty when I point out obvious flaws in the DeSantis candidacy, as evidenced by the comments section on this article.
I get it. People love whom they love and politics is a tribalistic, bitter game. But, if you are offended at anything I have to say about DeSantis, consider that I am not the one you should be upset with.
I didn’t make DeSantis hit a wall at around 15% support among the GOP base. He and his advisors did that. I would like to believe I had the kind of influence with the GOP base to sway elections, but that’s obviously not true. If I did, for sure, the GOP would look dramatically different than it does today. There would be no Mitch McConnell anywhere near elected office, for instance, and Mitt Romney’s nepo-niece would not be running the party into the ground.
The voters themselves, who ultimately and rightfully make the call, obviously aren’t buying whatever he is selling, which is a riddle in and of itself: what exactly is DeSantis selling? Is he an anti-establishment candidate in the mold of Donald Trump or is he a Bush-style neocon reminiscent of the mid-aughts? His waffling on numerous issues seems to indicate he has struggled to make up his mind.
If he is a Trump clone, why would anyone vote for a cheap knockoff cola when they have Classic Coke™ on the menu? If he’s a 2004-era Bush model, the GOP base has obviously moved on (see 2016 Jeb Bush epic campaign implosion). If DeSantis is something else entirely, he has not adequately conveyed what that is — again, not my fault.
Furthermore, I didn’t force DeSantis into his untimely entrance into the 2024 race. He could have simply gone on being a largely popular, effective governor of Florida, finishing out the term he signed up for — does he not owe that to Floridians anyway; why do politicians get to quit their terms early because they have personal career ambitions, something, to be fair, that is common practice in the industry not at all confined to DeSantis? — and biding his time until 2028 when he may have damn well been a shoo-in for the nomination. His ambitions, and the demands of the donor class to force-feed the base a credible Trump replacement, got the best of him.
