The Coward Nikki Haley
The GOP's last serious politician just caved to Donald Trump.
by Ben Cohen
“Many of the same politicians who now publicly embrace Trump privately dread him. They know what a disaster he's been and will continue to be for our party. They're just too afraid to say it out loud. Well, I'm not afraid to say the hard truths out loud. I feel no need to kiss the ring. And I have no fear of Trump's retribution. I'm not looking for anything from him. My own political future is of zero concern.”
- Nikki Haley, February 20th, 2024
That was Nikki Haley speaking to a crowd of supporters in her home state of South Carolina after racking up several losses to Trump in the GOP primary. Haley also called Trump “unhinged,” “toxic,” and “not qualified to be president of the United States.”
Fast forward to July of 2024, and Nikki Haley has apparently felt the need to kiss the ring. Here’s what she said at the Republican National Convention last night:
“I’ll start by making one thing perfectly clear: Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period… There are some Americans who don’t agree with Donald Trump 100% of the time. My message to them is simple: You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him.”
Haley appears to have gone through a radical conversion so powerful that she no longer believes anything she was saying just four months ago. What inspired this extraordinary change of heart? For clues, we might look to similar Republicans, like Linsey Graham, who argued in 2016 that Republicans should have kicked him out of the party. Or perhaps Trump’s VP pick JD Vance, who once likened Trump to Hitler. Or maybe Ted Cruz who called Trump a “pathological liar” in 2016, and Marco Rubio who called him a “con artist”.
A history of weakness
Each of these politicians, and almost every other prominent Republican in the country, gave multiple, explicit warnings about the danger Trump posed to democracy. All of them roundly condemned Trump before he took office, but quickly pledged allegiance when he became the nominee. They supported his presidency and refused to impeach him the first time around, before condemning him again when he tried to overthrow the government on January 6th. Only a few months later, almost all of them fell back in line and pledged allegiance to the mad king.
Nikki Haley differentiated herself from other Republicans by forcefully rebuking Trump after Jan. 6th, and then running against him the in GOP primaries two years later. Her campaign was largely based on contrasting herself with Donald Trump, and she pledged to take the Republican Party back to its traditional conservative roots.
But now Haley has, like all the others, cowed to the cult of Trumpism and destroyed her legacy forever.
They know better
It isn’t as if Haley doesn’t know what kind of danger Trump poses to democracy. She does, but she also understands that a principled life outside of Trump world means no political future in the Republican Party. So Haley made a choice to put party over country, and a convicted felon over principle. By endorsing Donald Trump, Haley is helping her career, but directly aiding efforts to wreck America.
If you watch the video of Haley’s speech, you can see that she does not believe a word she is saying. Her mouth smiles, but her eyes reveal a dead soul extinguished by political ambition and greed:
Nikki Haley represented the last bastion of the traditionalist party of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. That line of defense has been broken, and now all we have left is the party of Donald Trump.
The Democratic Party is the only force capable of stopping Trump in November. For all its dysfunctions, Americans of all political persuasions must rally around it in order to defeat this overwhelming threat. Because there are no allies left in the GOP, only cowards like Nikki Haley.
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JD Vance Will Hurt Trump Badly
And there's one very good reason.
by Ben Cohen
The wait is over. After months of speculation, the 39 year old Senator from Ohio, JD Vance, has emerged as Donald Trump’s running mate.
Vance is a far right MAGA acolyte who has gone through one of the most extreme political transitions in recent history. From calling Trump an “idiot”, an “asshole”, and potentially “America's Hitler” in 2016, Vance became a true believer and one of the MAGA movements most prominent spokespeople.
While Vance is a loyal foot soldier, the question most pundits are now asking is whether he can help Donald Trump win in November.
Unfortunately for Trump, Vance was probably the worst candidate he could have picked, and for one very good reason…
This is an excerpt from today’s Members Only piece. To continue reading, get 50% off a Banter Membership and go here. Members get access to all premium articles, The Emergency Meeting Podcast, and all member chat threads!:
As I've written previously, this all dates back to 2016 when Russians hacked the DNC. It's seems reasonable that the RNC was also hacked but that info was not released (to Trump supporters). The compromat obtained on GOP members must have been devastating enough to "force" US Senators (GOP) to show their compliance by visiting Russia on July 4, 2018!
Currently, whether that compromat is still in place (I believe it is for Linsey "Gone With the Wind" Graham), its use can still be a threat. It doesn't have to be true. Just surreptitiously releasing info about an opponent is Trumps greatest tool.
Haley et al al are clearly putting party ahead of country but it's probable that their entire personal reputation may be at risk.
Vance, on the other hand, is clearly an opportunist with very scary views. Venture Capitalists are, by nature, opportunists. Hand picked by Musk with the promise of $45 million. Remember, Trump is transactional by nature. The thought that he could be "one heartbeat" from the presidency should scare everyone!
I hope Nikki Haley just burned her entire political career! I actually had some respect for her on the campaign trail. Not anymore, she just proved she is no different with zero personal integrity.