The nasty split between Donald Trump and Nikki Haley is like a high school romance spat between the two stars of the senior class.
He is blaming her for the breakup, and she is blaming him. And both are saying mean things about each other.
Once close, Haley now says that Trump was too old, too unhinged and too unfit to graduate. And Trump calls Haley a birdbrain.
Trump apparently was none of those things when she accepted his appointment as ambassador to the United Nations. And Trump would never have appointed a birdbrain to high office, would he?
And the question all the students want to know now is: (1.) are they going to make up before the senior prom and, if so, (2.) who is going to call who first?
Trump did, after all, wipe Healey out on Super Tuesday and ended her presidential hopes. So maybe she should make the call first. But he was rude about her defeat, so she will not be calling for a while, if ever. You can never look desperate.
Trump is the only politician around who can be obnoxious whether he wins, or he loses.
He would have done himself good, however, if he showed a bit of grace and compassion.
Rather than offering kind words toward Healey for running a spirited campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, Trump insulted her instead, apparently because she did not instantly endorse him, as other losing GOP candidates have done.
She did say that she would support whoever the Republicans nominated, but that was not enough for Trump who, with women, has something of Henry VIII of England in him.
Hardly had Haley gotten into her concession speech — in which she graciously congratulated Trump for his sweeping victory — than Trump could not resist mocking her.
While Haley was speaking, Trump was tweeting. Instead of offering an open hand, Trump offered a closed fist,
Turning grace into gross, Trump s tweeted, “Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night in record setting fashion.”
He said, “Much of her money came from Radical Left Democrats, as did many of her voters, almost 50%, according to the polls.”
Knowing that she had suspended her campaign after losing 14 out of 15 states, including her home state of North Carolina, Trump mockingly added, “At this point, I hope she stays in the ‘race’ and fights it out until the end!”
As it was, Haley said, “Although I no longer will be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in.”
Which sounded all right. Most losing candidates say that.
But it would have been more forceful and better if she quoted U.S. Admiral Chester W Nimitz of World War Two fame. In facing a difficulty, he said, “God, grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.”
That would have rocked.
So, it all sounds as though Trump will not be calling Haley for a while either. Although with Trump one never knows. He may not even know.
It is too bad if he writes Healey off just because she stood up to him. A confident leader without Trump’s massive ego would welcome a capable and confident running mate.
Haley is now an experienced campaigner who, if not personally aligned with Trump right now, is certainly aligned with him on the issues.
A veteran of the television debate stage, she would make short work of Vice President Kamala Harris.
And while Trump has spurned the thousands of moderate and liberal Republicans who voted for her, along with independents, Democrats and women, they are voters Trump could use if he is to defeat Joe Biden.
Instead, he, in Hillary Clinton fashion, made them his deplorables.
Haley said she always supported the Republican nominee but took to heart the warning of the late former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to “never just follow the crowd.”
What Thatcher said was, “Don’t follow the crowd. Let the crowd follow you.”
If there is any crowd left, that is.
Peter Lucas is a veteran political reporter. Email him at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com
