She didn’t mention Trump by name in her State of the Union response, but Wednesday made it clear that she had him in mind.
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“The president did not get a chance to watch it live”. We must resist that temptation. “Her willingness to stand up and speak out against that took some courage, and it was rather conspicuous given the willingness of a lot of other leading Republicans to either ignore it or to try to sweep it under the rug. In some cases, we’ve seen leading Republicans be totally co-opted by it”.
Gov. Nikki Haley’s Republican response to the State of the Union address got some kudos from political pundits and leaders on both sides of the aisle, but it was harshly panned by some of the GOP’s most prominent figures, including Trump. It was none other than Donald Trump whom Ms. Haley targeted.
‘I won’t be angry when we fix it, but until we fix it, I’m very very angry, ‘ he said. “Over the years, she’s asked me for a hell of a lot of money in campaign contributions…perhaps if I weren’t running she’d be in my office asking me for money…”
Some of the critique of Haley’s response from conservatives online seemed to have a racial tint: Haley wasn’t just wrong because of what she said; she was more wrong, for some on Twitter, because she is Indian-American.
“That means stopping illegal immigration”.
“I consider Mr Trump a friend”. He was a supporter.
“I think Nikki [Haley] is a star…”
Haley told NBC that she hadn’t thought about any of the vice-presidential rumours, but added: “If a candidate wanted to sit down and talk, I would sit down and talk”. Take it of you want. “But they gave me the opportunity to say what I think, and that’s what I did”, Haley said.
I know several people who were irritated by the remarks for tactical reasons. “It’s certainly that, but her speech last night sort of expanded the theme of who is and who isn’t qualified to be a Republican, and the Republican Party is still anti-conservative”. She has acted to strengthen immigration laws in SC and joined in the lawsuit filed by a total of 17 states over President Obama’s sweeping executive orders reshaping immigration policies. In a subsequent interview, she confirmed she was talking about Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. The first thinks that we have overcome our problems with race and that the United States is a shining example of racial harmony (hey Ben Carson!) and the other thinks it’s our very obsession with race and political correctness that’s dooming us altogether. “And that’s something that doesn’t play very well with me”, the New York-based real estate tycoon said. “And that is what she should be judged on”, the Washington state Republican told reporters.
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“Unfortunately, the President’s record has often fallen far short of his soaring words”, said 43-year-old Ms Haley, seen as a potential Republican vice-presidential pick in 2016.
