CNN's Jake Tapper pointed out that newly announced 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley's campaign exposes the "very ugly side of the Left."
Earlier this week, Tapper criticized Democrats attacking Haley for using her middle name, Nimarata, instead of her first name. Yet, at the same time, the same people praised former President Obama for doing the same.
"These are the same people who objected to whenever Republicans would say Barack Hussein Obama," he said. "I mean, there is a very ugly sign of the left that comes out when Nikki Haley runs for office."
Tapper's guest agreed, saying that some people on the Left don't like how Haley is turning out to be a good presidential candidate, so they are going after her for little things.
"I think that it's a gift to Haley's nascent campaign for her to be able to jump on these dumb remarks," said conservative commentator Ramesh Ponnuru, adding, "that just play into her hands and say, 'Look, they're going after me based on my race. They can't handle my ideas. They can't handle the fact that I'm a skilled politician.'"
Tapper's Democrat guest then praised Haley for being elected as South Carolina governor based on her Indian heritage race.
"I think the fact that she got to be the governor of South Carolina with brown skin is a very impressive accomplishment, and I don't think it's something people ought to be attacking or ridiculing her about. Let's just take her based on her ideas. And I might not like them as a Democrat, Republicans might, but I think it's a terrible thing to say about her," Democratic strategist Paul Begala said.
The CNN host argued that the race-based attacks against Haley would benefit her in the long run, referring to it as an "in-kind contribution" towards her campaign.