What Nikki Haley Should (Could) Have Said

For a couple of months now, the punditry class has watched in bewilderment as former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has stumbled from one embarrassing primary loss to the next, felled by a combination of Donald Trump and “None of These Candidates.” The same question comes up in nearly every bit of analysis you’d care to watch or read. Why? Why would she stay in there and keep swinging while the polls have stubbornly continued to be mostly accurate and her chances of gaining the nomination evaporate? There is virtually nobody supporting her at this point except for some Never-Trump holdouts and Democrats who enjoy watching her force Trump to waste resources and like listening to her bash the frontrunner. And the latter is a big part of the problem. It would be one thing if she were simply offering herself respectfully as an alternate choice with her own policies and plans. But that’s not the case. She’s out there on a regular basis trashing Donald Trump and hurling accusations that will serve as ammunition for the Biden campaign in the months to come. She was doing it again this week on Meet the Press when she told Kristen Welker that she “doesn’t know if Trump would follow the Constitution in a second term.”

During an exclusive interview on Meet the Press, former Ambassador Nikki Haley tells Kristen Welker she doesn’t know if Donald Trump would follow the Constitution if elected in November. “When you go and you talk about revenge. When you go and you talk about, you know, vindication. … What does that mean? Like, I don’t know what that means and only he can answer for that,” Haley says.

I’m sure that Nikki Haley has no interest in hiring me as her campaign strategist and it’s probably too late anyway. But it really didn’t have to be this way. Even if Haley had no intention of dropping out (and still doesn’t seem to thus far) and wanted to hang around as long as her big-money donors kept her coffers full, there was a better way to position herself. If I were in the hypothetical position of advising her, allow me to queue up a proposal of the approach she should have taken.

“I offered the voters an alternative, but it’s clear that the base has made its choice. And yet, this is an uncertain situation. Given the frontrunner’s age and pending legal issues, things may not go as expected. And while I’m suspending my campaign, I will stand by and be available to lead the party to victory if he is unavailable.”

That’s all it would have taken. It’s really that simple, and I think she would have regained a significant amount of respect from the base, including Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters. She might have even improved her prospects for a potential comeback tour in 2028. But those prospects are currently sinking like a stone.

The suggested statement above is also rooted in reality, by the way. There is still a long way to go until November. It’s a political eternity. We don’t know what might happen between now and then. If the lawfare campaign against Trump somehow bears fruit and results in a conviction that sticks, some of his Teflon armor may begin to look a bit weaker. And while Trump clearly appears to be in far, far better shape than Joe Biden, both physically and cognitively, he is still nearly 80 years old. I wish nothing but the best for him, but as I make my way through my own senior years, I can assure you that the future is never certain. It’s not inconceivable that the GOP could end up needing a backup plan by the time the convention rolls around.

Nikki Haley could have been that backup plan, but she seems to be rapidly burning her bridges behind her. That’s okay though, because there are other backups available that are all fine choices. Senator Tim Scott and Flordia Governor Ron DeSantiss also technically suspended their campaigns rather than officially ending them. Either or both could restart their campaign and make a pitch for themselves to be the knight riding to the rescue. Unfortunately for Nikki Haley, if she keeps up her current antics much longer, her stallion will likely be left in the stables.