Nikki Haley Pretty Sure Dead Biden Will Beat Live Trump So Vote For Her Please
It's a tiresome message at this point.
The South Carolina Republican primary is 140 years from now on February 24, and the state’s former Gov. Nikki Haley is still in the race against known rapist Donald Trump. Haley was appalled that Trump was ordered to pay $83 million to the woman he sexually assaulted and repeatedly defamed (he’s probably doing so again right now).
Haley posted on social media after the defamation verdict:
“Donald Trump wants to be the presumptive Republican nominee and we’re talking about $83 million in damages. We’re not talking about fixing the border. We’re not talking about tackling inflation. America can do better than Donald Trump and Joe Biden.”
We probably should talk about why the likely Republican nominee wouldn’t pass the background check for next Marvel movie villain. Something’s obviously gone wrong. The rape should’ve been enough to vanquish Trump, but he’s also on trial for practically everything else. Haley did bring up the fact that Trump’s raiding his campaign coffers to fund the quality legal services of Alina Habba.
“Another reason Donald Trump won’t debate me … His PAC spent 50 MILLION in campaign dollars on his legal fees,” Haley posted on the generic social media site. “He can’t beat Joe Biden if he’s spending all his time and money on court cases and chaos.”
This a questionable line of attack in a Republican primary. Unfortunately, polls have shown that Republican voters rally behind Trump as his legal problems escalate. Her point, while rational, would only cause those voters to dig in their heels and not let Biden’s “weaponized Justice Department” destroy their dear leader. It occurs to me that Haley isn’t making a positive appeal to voters. It’s all negative — “the other guy is unhinged and can’t beat Biden.” She’s actually hyping Biden up as this formidable opponent when she’s spent most of the campaign suggesting he’s died recently and no one has told him.
Haley shared her hardly Obama-esque “Hope He’ll Croak” message on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show.
HEWITT: Now Madam Ambassador, your base case, as I understand it, is that you will beat President Biden, and former President Trump will not. Would you explain why that is to this audience?
HALEY: Well, first of all, I think that, you know, there will a woman president in America. It’s either going to be me, or it’s going to be Kamala Harris. And I don’t want a Kamala Harris for president.
Yeah, we get it, she thinks Old Joe is gonna die. Look, Haley’s 52. A former coworker just died at 50. Haley should not mock fate.
HALEY: So the first thing we have to understand is Trump cannot beat Biden in an election. That’s a fact. We know that. Look at Iowa. Look at New Hampshire. He doesn’t win independents. No one can win a general election if you don’t have independents. He doesn’t win suburban women. He has lost the Republicans who don’t like his style.
Haley generously assumes that dead man walking Biden will live long enough to hand Trump his ass but then keel over sometime during his second term. She’s supposed to be running for president not chief fortune teller.
She’s right that Trump lost independents but she’s not going to win them over — especially suburban women! — with her anti-abortion policies. It makes me physically uncomfortable to defend Trump but he crushed her among actual Republican voters in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Democrats love Biden. Republicans obviously aren’t into Haley. This isn’t an audition for the “Morning Joe” panel. You need to turn out your base if you hope to win.
HALEY: You look at all those general election polls, he does not beat Biden. You look at those same general election polls I’m in, I defeat Biden by up to 17 points. Do you know what that means? That’s not just the presidency, that’s the House, that’s the Senate, that’s governorships.
Those general elections polls are doo doo! They are based in an assumed normal political reality, yet there is no reality where Trump would ever support Haley as the nominee and not actively sabotage her campaign, while Haley has repeatedly said she’ll endorse Trump. (That’ll most likely happen on February 25.)
It was telling that Marjorie Taylor Greene said she’d voted for Trump twice but not Mitt Romney. That’s probably true of a lot of MAGA voters. It’s why I’d love it if Haley somehow won. It’s a guaranteed rout.
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[Mother Jones / Politico]
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"America can do better than Donald Trump and Joe Biden.” apparently not ...
Haley is a woman of color who (mildly) bashes Trump. She’s not going to take any maga votes from Trump. Trump has the wingnuts totally under his spell. He could literally sprout horns, hooves and a long, forked tail and he wouldn’t lose any followers. The evangelicals would simply convert.