Trump’s ‘achilles heel’? Haley’s refusal to drop out infuriates ex-president

octavio_dingus@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 486 points –
Trump’s ‘achilles heel’? Haley’s refusal to drop out infuriates ex-president
theguardian.com
107

Haley might be the smartest person in the GOP room right now. She got herself a gig in the Trump administration, but one that kept her in NYC and away from most of the crazies in the Trump Orbit. She had to promote Trump's foreign policy, of course, but had wide latitude in terms of how to do it. She notably had a hard line against Russia while we know Trump's history with Putin.

She was capable of doing her job without stepping in anything foul. And she got some one-on-one time with other high-level diplomats. If there is any dirt on Trump and his foreign business dealings, she has it.

Haley might make a horrible President, but she is not an election denier and she is not in Putin's pocket, so she already has a few advantages over most of the GOPniks these days.

If there is any dirt on Trump and his foreign business dealings, she has it.

Which is probably why Trump is implying that he has scandalous information about her.

Every accusation a confession. Always.

It's in the Dictator's Handbook I think. You can see the exact same thing in Russia's official communication too.

I wonder what she has on him.

Maybe it was her job to return Putin's boots after they'd been licked clean.

She’s said she’s pardon the asshole anyway. That kept me from being able to troll vote for her in NH.

If I had to wager, her plan may be to stay in to the end despite losing every primary, just in case something goes south for Trump legally. Trouble is, he's going to savage her politically and many of his supporters will never vote for her

Trouble is, he’s going to savage her politically and many of his supporters will never vote for her

Sure. On the other hand...

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article284562880.html

“The worst kept secret in politics is how badly the Democrats want to run against Donald Trump,” Haley said. “A Trump nomination is a Biden win and a Kamala Harris presidency … I defeat Biden handily.”

Yeah this is my understanding.

I don't really understand it (despite everyone explaining it n times) but if the GOP want to win all they need to do is field a young candidate.

So it all comes down to “do Republicans want to win badly enough that they can suppress their racism and misogyny and vote for a woman of color”. Republicans like winning, but NEVER bet against racism and misogyny with that crew.

Also, a large fraction of the base WILL vote for Trump, and only Trump, whether he’s on the ballot or not, which hurts Haley. And there’s no evidence that the R’s have won over a single new voter since 2020, when they lost.

This all turns on how badly Biden does with HIS base, and that is currently pretty worrying. Democratic voters like unproductive petulance at least as much as Republican voters like racism and misogyny.

Biden definitely hasn't been unproductive. He just hasn't been loud enough about his accomplishments.

Biden's exceeded my expectations... it's just no one knows him as anything other than "The guy who sniffs hair"

I think she's wrong though. If she were to win, Trump would run an an independent and split the wingnut vote.

Hell, it's likely she'll pull votes from the Left who just wanna see a woman president, Identity Politics isn't just a word ya know

Shes got the Koch billion dollar donation network behind her. I think her plan is to make as much of their money as possible, which they are glad to give to have a possible president directly in their pocket.

So what you are saying is we have found the only non trump anti genocide candidate?

And it pisses him off more?

I’m off to donate to her campaign

No offense but I don’t trust aljazeera on anything involving Israel, their other reporting tends to be fairly good though.

Literally 2 seconds of Googling- https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2023/10/20/nikki-haley-says-she-would-support-israel-strengthen-u-s-military-as-president/

Let me guess, you don't trust an Iowa newspaper to accurately report on what Nikki Haley said while she was campaigning in Iowa.

Nicely cited. Didn't even need the snarky jab chaser lol.

He's not very wrong about Al Jazeera's editorial bent.

The Al Jazeera article had direct quotes from Haley. Unless your argument is that Al Jazeera fabricates such quotes, and I don't think there is any evidence they do that, the criticism was wrong.

Nope, I agree that AJ article is well written and on point.

My feeling about AJ is they seem to have a background editorial agenda in general.

And that's plenty ok, IMO. Just good to keep in mind.

https://kbin.social/m/privacy@lemmy.ml/t/793847/-/comment/4828421

Thank you for a source that wasn’t aljazeera.

Come on squid, me, you, and pugjesus all have slightly different feelings but we pretty much agree on a lot.

Why make it personal?

I was polite and only asked for a source that was too close to the subject and would undoubtedly have a large amount of bias on this subject .

I know for a fact that you are better than this.

Because acting like the source that gives direct quotes is too biased to trust those quotes is silly. Especially when you're talking about Al Jazeera, not Newsmax.

I don’t trust their “quotes” not to be false and I do not feel like taking the time to cross verify with other trusted sources.

Once again, aljazeera is fine for things not relating to Israel, I just don’t trust them on this subject.

It would be interesting to see Kamala Harris vs. Nikki Haley in a future election -- Two Indian-American woman vying for the US presidency.

No coronations pls. Let's have some actual primaries with policy. On both sides.

Not American, so honestly I'd prefer her to be the candidate even if she does beat Biden.

Obviously Biden vs. Trump is more likely to result in a Biden win, but a Haley presidency is arguably preferable to even the risk of a second Trump presidency.

If he's re-elected and undermines NATO, the risk of Russia making a mistake in the baltics, and things getting out of control are very very real. Trump II is quite simply an existential threat at this point.

Obviously Biden vs. Trump is more likely to result in a Biden win

The sad thing is that we're not sure. Trump voters don't vote "rationally", it's a cult like thing that was cultivated during Biden's term. They are taught to refute all facts and go by gut feeling instead.

Don't think it started then. Fox News, Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, hell Father Charles Coughlin and the America First Committee. Suspect it's partly related to that Asimov quote:

“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”

I suspect Trump v Biden would be a tighter race than expected. Trump supporters enthusiasticly show up to vote. The majority of Americans may prefer Biden over trump but will they make the effort to vote for a man they aren't enthusiastic about?

My reasoning is that no one is particularly enthusiastic about Biden.

People will however turn up to vote against Trump.

Will people turn up to vote against Haley in as large numbers? I have my doubts.

Haley has a much stronger chance of winning the presidency than Trump imo. She could win the independent vote, and Democrat voters may not turn out as much if she's the alternative.

She also wants to ban Gender Affirming Care in all 50 states

Yes, like all the other narcissists, people (in particular women) not doing what he wants really upsets him. This is nothing new.

Not just women, but since she's of Indian descent, I'm sure he thinks of her as "a woman of color". I'm sure she gets under his skin almost as much as other "disrespectful, uppity, don't know their place" women like Fani Willis and Letitia James, and I'm here for it!

This is smart. She’s probably just sitting and waiting for the Supreme Court ruling. By some rare chance that Supreme Court sides the Colorado ruling. Trump is immediately disqualified for running for President and she becomes the nominee by default

It isn't quite that easy is it? Can't they simply rule that CO has the right to run their elections how they see fit without weighing in specifically on whether Trump should be disqualified?

They have to walk a very fine line, because too far in either direction fucks them. Give the states too much power and they can kick off trump. Give the states too little power and Democrats can counterattack voter suppression

It's not that simple. It sends a message to the entire nation. If it's held up every voter is aware he is an inferior candidate. And if it doesn't, the GOP can say "look how bad they are at it".

That's true, I just don't see how they don't uphold it. Then again, the GOP lives for hypocrisy and their chosen few run the court now so...

Why would she drop out, she's the leading eligible candidate.

I'm starting to think Trump said something personally to Haley that seriously pissed her off, because she must know she's not going to win.

I assume she's hoping to get the Republican nomination by default if Trump is disqualified.

This would be my dream (as a non-American).

I want to see if the deep red Republicans hate Democrats enough to vote for a woman, born to Indian immigrant parents just out of spite.

They won't, thats my bet.

Let's be real, all of MAGA is gonna sit this one out crying about fraud if Trump isn't on the ballet.

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and she's said something to him that really pissed him off: "No."

because she must know she’s not going to win.

Winning isn't important. It's the free money. Colbert showed years ago how PAC money could be transformed into a personal slush fund.

At this point she can only win. Winning the nomination and the election this year is a long shot, that's certainly true. But whether Trump wins the election by whatever means and inevitably drops dead at some point or he wins the nomination but loses the election, she's in place as his obvious successor.

It is extremely unlikely that Haley can pull a comeback and win the nomination the conventional way. But there is a non-zero chance that Trump will not be able to accept the nomination, because he may be ineligible/incarcerated/deceased. If that happens, the Republican convention will be a shitshow. (It might turn out to be the real Civil War II if next week is a dud). However, Haley would be going in with a position of strength as the only other candidate with delegates.

There is nothing stopping incarcerated people from running for president, it has been done before. That probably helps to make it less enticing for corrupt politicians and their allies to lock up their opponents on false charges. Unless Trump dies within the next ten months or loses the support of his fanatic base, which both seem unlikely, Trump will be the Republican nominee. Haley might try for VP or try to carry her momentum into 2028.

Might be early preparation for a 2028 run. She'll be a familiar face who was "strong enough to go toe to toe with Trump" or something. I dunno much about political calculus.

Plus yeah, this might also be payback to get him tilted.

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Lets get it right, it’s Russia vs Koch Industries not Hailey vs Trump.

You've swapped the order though. Apart from that you are right.

Haley can sue for malicious intent and defamation of character, after a few weeks of Trump being infuriated.

Now, we know how much it takes for Trump to shut his trap.

I’m hoping that some Dem billionaires are funding her, just to annoy the shit outta Donnie Dipshit.

That is sort of happening minus the Dem part. She's got the Koch money machine behind her. Which is disgusting and should make clear she's controllable.

I would laugh out loud to see her goad Donnie into a heart attack live on stage.

But I wouldn’t vote for her in a million years.

I would vote for her in a second if the choice were between her and Donnie.

My partner and I were just talking about going to vote for her if she makes to it our states primaries.

My state has open primaries so I can vote in either parties primary. I'd never actually support either of them but tactically, it might be smarter for me to go support Haley (vote against Trump). My state went for Trump by almost 15 points in 2020, Biden isn't going to win here. But if Haley can get to the general, I'm 90% sure Trump runs as an independent and splits the GOP vote.

Well yes of course.

I get the feeling she might be playing up to the base but would dial that shit right back in office.

People said the same about trump. When someone shows you who they are, believe them.

Let them fight; even if she gets the nomination, the GOP isn't voting for a woman.

Given the polling she's not going to win the primary.... unless something unprecedented happens. Something that's never happened in a primary before, like for example, the front-runner gets convicted of a crime during the campaign.

Which I suspect is the reason she's staying in.

He wanted her to drop put and we all know he hates when women tell him 'no.'

And then Biden calls him a "loser". Definitely not wrong, and a good way to make Trump blow a gasket.

This is the best summary I could come up with:


His petulance offers a reminder of the unhinged behaviour that turned off independent voters in New Hampshire and could prove to be a liability in a head-to-head contest with Biden.

Newt Gingrich, a former House of Representatives speaker and ex-presidential candidate, said: “Trump’s best strategy is to assume he is the nominee and go straight at Biden and ignore Haley, let her flounder around until she either runs out of money or realises that there is no future.

She tweeted on Thursday: “Underestimate me, that’s always fun.” Next week she is scheduled for a fundraising tour that includes stops in New York, Florida, California, Texas and South Carolina.

She is expected to continue to draw donor support as Never Trumpers within the party make a last stand and hope he could yet be derailed by the 91 criminal charges against him.

Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said: “I do know some of her donors and my guess is they want her staying in to put Trump through his paces.

This week he held a joint event with his vice-president, Kamala Harris, in Virginia to promote reproductive freedom, highlighting Trump’s role in the supreme court’s Dobbs decision that overturned the constitutional right to abortion.


The original article contains 1,279 words, the summary contains 211 words. Saved 84%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

Should Trump despising Biden supporters start donating to Nikki Haley?

Lol no. Donate to Biden.

He has zero opposition in primaries. Winning without being on ballot.

He still has to fight against Trump?

Not if we support Nikki Haley now. This is the whole point.

How the fuck does helping your enemy any better than helping your only ally? If she loses the nomination, which is fucking likely as hell, you just wasted money you could have given Biden. The reasoning is borderline Russia bot speak.

Wow… I wish just thinking you’re the plant.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Please consider yourself exposed. A five year old can get this:

Nikki Haley has ZERO chance against Biden in fall. We knock out Trump now because he might could maybe slightly stand a chance.