Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley ignited another wave of intense criticism from right-wing media this week with her recent speech vowing to stay in the presidential race past the February 24 South Carolina primary.
“Some of you, perhaps a few of you in the media, came here today to see if I'm dropping out of the race,” Haley said during her address. “Well, I'm not.” To a growing swath of right-wing media, this was unwelcome news.
Haley is a frequent target of criticism from MAGA figures claiming that her pro-establishment GOP campaign is actually helping Democrats, and right-wing media personalities reacted to her February 20 speech by mocking her “weakness,” laughing at her polling deficits, and denouncing her “insurance policy” campaign.
Haley, these commentators observe, seemingly hopes to be the default primary winner after former President Donald Trump, who is facing multiple criminal trials, is somehow removed from contention. (Constitutionally, neither a criminal conviction nor a prison sentence would disqualify Trump from office.)
“There is no path for Nikki Haley,” declared Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe.
“What does it say about Nikki Haley, about the weakness of her candidacy, that she had to lie to us to get anyone to watch that press conference today?” Boothe said, mockingly claiming that “she had to lead people to believe that she was dropping out to get people to watch her press conference.”
“She knows there’s not going to be a path. I think what she wants is pats on the head from the mainstream media,” Boothe said, suggesting she wants a job at MSNBC or CNN. “She wants to be part of the club.”
“I need some help here. I don’t understand,” chuckled Newsmax host Sebastian Gorka, filling in on Rob Schmitt Tonight. “Why is this woman still campaigning? The latest polls in Texas, for example, have President Trump beating her by 71%. Not 7%. Beating her by 71%.”
“What is going on with Nikki Haley?” a laughing Gorka asked his guests. “Does she live in the real world?”
Right-wing blogger Rich Baris called her campaign “a sabotage mission at this point," saying it's "going to turn into a suicide mission.” Right-wing pollster John McLaughlin chimed in that “she’s in denial. She’s going to lose South Carolina. Today was her pre-concession concession speech.”
Newsmax prime-time host Eric Bolling dedicated his February 20 show’s opening monologue to suggesting “Joe Biden really doesn’t have a better supporter right now than Nikki Haley,” claiming that by remaining in the race, she's tying up GOP resources and “actively giving him a competitive edge for November.”
“We think Haley will limp around for a few more primaries, haphazardly campaigning, making excuses why she keeps losing — she’s very good at that, by the way — and then, slowly, she’ll fizzle out,” the Newsmax host predicted.
“The question remains,” Bolling said, inflecting his show with a false sense of gravitas, “does Nikki Haley really want to be the person who gets in the way of taking back our country? It appears that way, unfortunately, but she’s about to be roadkill — run over by the Trump caravan.”
One notable theme emerged in right-wing media denunciations following Haley’s speech: outrage that her campaign appears predicated on the idea that Trump will somehow be removed from either the GOP primary or the general election.
During his opening rant, Bolling said that Haley’s self-declaration as “the backup candidate in case Trump is convicted of a felony” was “not exactly a sound strategy, even logical thinking,” although it would win her “accolades from the liberal media and Fox News.”
“We have a long memory in MAGA world,” Bolling concluded, suggesting a deep affront to a political movement obsessed with loyalty to Trump.
Despite tensions in the Fox-Trump relationship, Fox remains a pro-Trump network — and it diagnosed the same fatal flaw in Haley’s campaign as Bolling did.
On the February 20 edition of Outnumbered, Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones similarly claimed that Haley’s “entire campaign strategy” is betting that Trump’s criminal cases will put him in prison. “That will be her shot,” Jones said, before suggesting it would backfire with Republican voters. “Read the room — they don’t like that.”
On his radio show, Fox host Mark Levin derided Haley as “an unconscionable, exploitive opportunist” for remaining in the race so long. “And I'm hoping she's destroyed herself for any future office,” Levin added, “because she has no principles, she has no conscience, and I would argue has no morals.”
“She's trying to pick at the body of Donald Trump,” he complained, “before there is a body of Donald Trump to pick at.”
The following day, Fox anchor Bill Hemmer pointedly asked Haley about this theory: “Do you see yourself as an insurance policy in the Republican nomination?”
After Hemmer took her first dodge as confirmation of his “insurance policy” suggestion, Haley acknowledged herself as “a Republican option” for “when you see Donald Trump can’t win and you know that we have to turn this country around.”
“Then I am your alternative,” she said.
