Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has sought to establish herself as the unity candidate while on the campaign trail by addressing difficult topics and attempting to stitch together all sides of the Republican Party.
The strategy has led Haley to experience a recent surge in the polls, allowing the former South Carolina governor to overcome Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in some primary states and begin to close the gap between her and former President Donald Trump. Much of that improvement has come after Haley’s performances in the GOP primary debates offered her a handful of viral moments and an opportunity to attack her opponents head-on.
LAUREN BOEBERT’S DISTRICT SWAP IS GIFT TO GOP, BUT REELECTION OBSTACLES REMAIN
But like many of her challengers, Haley has dealt with a handful of blunders and slip-ups while on the campaign trail that could harm her presidential ambitions as she seeks to shore up support in crucial primary states.
Here’s a roundup of some of the moments in which Haley has experienced setbacks in her campaign:
Slavery as cause of the Civil War
Haley’s most recent blunder came after she failed to mention slavery as a main cause of the Civil War when pressed on the matter by a voter at a New Hampshire town hall on Wednesday.
Haley instead took a different approach: blaming the conflict on the role the government was going to play.
“I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run,” she said. “The freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do.”
Her answer resulted in a tense exchange between her and the voter, who said he was “astonished” she refused to mention slavery in her answer, prompting Haley to respond: “What do you want me to say about slavery?”
Haley later clarified her comments, claiming the man asking the questions was a "Democrat plant" trying to push her into a corner. Haley acknowledged the war was caused by slavery, arguing she was focusing her answer on "what does it mean to us today?"
“Of course, the Civil War was about slavery. We know that. That’s the easy part of it," she said. "But more than that, what’s the lesson in all this? That freedom matters. And individual rights and liberties matter for all people. That’s the blessing of America. That was a stain on America when we had slavery. But what we want is never to relive it. Never let anyone take those freedoms away again.”
United States should ‘align’ with Russia
Haley also made headlines earlier this summer when she suggested the United States should “align” itself with non-European countries such as Russia, a comment her campaign later walked back as a mistake.
During a local TV interview in June, Haley maintained the U.S. should focus its attention beyond its European allies into the “Arab world” to help with the country’s opposition to Iran.
“You see Saudi Arabia making deals with China, that’s not good for us,” Haley said. “We need them to be with us, and then we need to align with others, Russia, Australia, Japan, Israel.”
Haley’s campaign later walked back those comments, noting she “obviously misspoke” when she included Russia among the list of countries.
“This is completely ridiculous, she obviously misspoke,” campaign spokesman Ken Farnaso told the Associated Press at the time. “No one has been tougher on Russia than Nikki Haley.”
Social media users may not be anonymous
Haley came under fire earlier this year after suggesting social media users should not be able to hide behind anonymous account names, calling the practice a “national security threat.” Instead, Haley proposed all users must be verified by their names to gain access online.
"Every person on social media should be verified by their name," she told Fox News. "When you do that, all of a sudden, people have to stand by what they say, and it gets rid of the Russian bots, the Iranian bots, and the Chinese bots."
The suggestion prompted pushback from her GOP opponents, who suggested such a move would result in "dangerous and unconstitutional" censorship.
“You know who were anonymous writers back in the day? Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison when they wrote the Federalist Papers,” DeSantis wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Haley's proposal to ban anonymous speech online — similar to what China recently did — is dangerous and unconstitutional. It will be dead on arrival in my administration.”
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also evoked the Federalist authors in his criticism.
“Alexander Hamilton, John Jay & James Madison wrote the Federalist Papers under pseudonym,” he said. “Here’s what they would say to Nikki Haley if they were alive: get your heels off my neck & go back to England.”
Haley’s campaign pushed back on the accusations to argue that while people have a right to anonymous accounts on social media, she was targeting foreign entities from spreading “chaos and anti-American filth among our people."
"Social media companies have to do a way better job policing that,” a Haley spokesperson told Axios. “Clearly, Ron DeSantis wants to let Chinese propaganda machines run wild on social media without any restrictions."
Softened stance on Trump
Throughout the 2024 campaign, Haley has been criticized by some of her challengers, such as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, for being too soft on Trump. Some of those criticisms have leaked into campaign events, even as recently as Thursday when Haley was confronted by a 9-year-old attendee.
“Chris Christie thinks you’re a flip-flopper on the Donald Trump issue, and honestly, I agree with him. You’re basically the new John Kerry,” the child told Haley, eliciting laughter from the crowd. “How can you change your opinion like that in just eight years, and will you pardon Donald Trump?”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“I told you that I agreed with a lot of his policies. But do I think he’s the right president to go forward? No,” Haley responded. “We can’t handle the chaos anymore.”
But, she added, she would pardon the former president because it would be in “the best interest of the country … so that we can move on as a country and no longer talk about him.” Haley has previously said she would be “inclined” to pardon the president, but her remarks are the first time she has explicitly vowed to do so.