Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has no path to the Republican nomination. It’s an open secret, though the woman vows to fight to the bitter end, like Davy Crockett at the Alamo. She got waxed by Trump in Iowa and New Hampshire and tried to spin both crushing defeats as victories. Liberal donors are keeping her war chest healthy, but this isn’t about country or service. It’s about ego now. Sure, Trump has an ego, but he’s also a former president, real estate magnate, and soon will be the 2024 Republican nominee. He’s winning stuff—period. Haley is not, so why keep up the appearance like this is a legitimate two-man race?
As Trey Gowdy noted during the night of the New Hampshire Primary, South Carolina voters like Tim Scott and Nikki Haley, with the former being the most popular politician in the state and the latter viewed as a good governor, could neither beat Trump. Haley’s approval could be 90 percent—they’d still vote for Trump. It’s what it is. So, can someone explain why Haley was on Saturday Night Live last night (via Variety):
Embarrassing. Beyond embarrassing. https://t.co/vwEdY5LoWM
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 4, 2024
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley crashed “Saturday Night Live” on Feb. 3 to taunt Donald Trump (played by James Austin Johnson) in a town hall sketch, but ended up getting schooled by host Ayo Edebiri.
Popping up at the end of the sketch, Edebiri posed a pointed question: “I was just curious, what would you say was the main cause of the civil war? And do you think it starts with an S and ends with a ‘lavery’?”
“Yeah, I probably should have said that the first time,” Haley admitted.
Edebiri’s joke was a reference to a December 2023 town hall in New Hampshire where a voter asked Haley what caused the war, to which she responded, “I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run. The freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do.”
Who thought this was a good idea? She won’t get a bump from this because this isn’t 1968, she's not Nixon, and Laugh-In is no longer on the air.
Richard Nixon credits his appearance on the famed sketch comedy show as one of the reasons why he won the 1968 election. Does Haley think she can bounce back from a surprise SNL cameo? Or does she know she’s about to get thrashed again and doesn’t care? If she's about to be pummeled, she might as well go out having fun. Based on her Iowa and New Hampshire speeches, you could argue that she feels this could help humanize her more with voters. And given that her strategy is now centered on appealing to left-leaning voters, SNL would be the optimal show for a guest cold opening.
But we all know what’s coming: the woman is bound to be obliterated in Nevada and South Carolina. I don’t even need to go into Super Tuesday. One would hope that someone in her inner circle is trying to bring this woman back to reality by strongly advising her to drop out before the Palmetto State showdown, where Trump is going to eviscerate her by at least 25 points.
Haley isn’t the captain of the Titanic. She sees the iceberg and has time to change course. She can drop out now and leave this race with some dignity.