Gov. Nikki Haley has a message for Donald Trump after making a veiled swipe at him during the response to President Obama’s last State of the Union address: “You shouldn’t take these things personally”.
Advertisement
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley this week called for more civility in the conduct of her party’s raucous Republican presidential nomination contest, but her plea so far has only served to inflame tensions among the party’s warring factions.
“Mr Trump has definitely contributed to what I think is just irresponsible talk”, Haley said on the Today show Wednesday morning. Of course, as you know, Nikki Haley was born to immigrant parents, but she was actually born in SC. However, we’ve been unable to confirm whether the term “Indian” in South Carolina’s anti-miscegenation laws applied to Native Americans or people from India, so we have altered it to what you see above.
“Look i can appreciate that they’re angry but I said what I believed, I stand by what I believe”, she explains.
“But I disagree with her politically and obviously she disagrees with me politically on immigration”, Trump said.
On Wednesday, Haley acknowledged that Trump had been one of the people that she had singled out. Americans have a choice to make in November, he said, and he spelled out the case for his side.
Trump: No, not yet, but she was very nice tonight.
While the Republican National Committee and many 2016 presidential contenders praised Haley’s response, some conservatives were critical of her apparent references to Trump. “Nothing at all against Nikki Haley”.
Nonetheless, Mr. Trump’s poisonous stance on the issue – his contemptuous remarks about Mexicans and proposals to ban Muslim immigrants and deport millions of undocumented residents with deep roots in the United States – crossed a line that steadfast conservatives such as Ms. Haley can not abide.
“Ann, and I respect that you hold this position forcefully, but would you acknowledge that you are a minority of about three”, Hewitt asked.
DONALD TRUMP: By the way, I have a massive lead in SC.
“I think she presented herself as a very viable leader for the Republican party”, said Dr. Michael Bitzer, a political scientist at Catawba College. “We turned toward God, and to the values that have long made our country the freest and greatest in the world”, Haley said.
In some ways, Haley seems to face the same conundrum former Louisiana Gov. and failed Republican presidential candidate Bobby Jindal did – not seeming “brown enough” for some voters of color, while being “too brown” for others.
Advertisement
“Trump’s response the next day will just be, ‘Well, you heard President Obama and the Republican leadership response echo each other, they’re on the same team.’ That’s his thesis”, said conservative Rep. Dave Brat of Virginia. What matters more is to resist such types of temptations.
