What experts get wrong about Nikki Haley’s run

The Conversation with Dasha Burns

POLITICO

Politics, News, Government

4.0 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2023

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, and President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, is running for president. But not everyone on the right is impressed. In a brutal Valentine’s Day editorial, The Wall Street Journal said that there is “no clear rationale for her candidacy.” Over at The New York Times, the paper assembled 10 pundits to assess Haley’s candidacy, and the majority opinion was that she shouldn’t be taken very seriously. On this episode of Playbook Deep Dive, Rob Godfrey, a senior aide and spokesman for Haley when she was governor, and a longtime ally to her successor, Henry McMaster, shares why the critics may be wrong. Godfrey discusses Haley’s career of defying expectations, her record as governor, South Carolina’s uniquely influential role in American politics, and invites host Ryan Lizza to come visit. Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.Rob Godfrey is the former senior aide to Nikki Haley. Afra Abdullah is an associate producer for POLITICO audio.Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio.Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio.Brook Hayes is a senior editor for POLITICO audio.Jenny Ament is the executive producer for POLITICO audio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	And so I have an announcement to make.
0:06.0	Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and president Donald Trump's ambassador
0:10.5	to the UN, is running for president.
0:13.5	May the best woman win.
0:15.6	But not everyone on the right is impressed.
0:19.4	In a brutal Valentine's Day editorial, the Wall Street Journal said that there is, quote,
0:24.9	no clear rationale for her can't-lacy.
0:27.6	Before at the New York Times, the paper assembled 10 pundits to assess Haley's can't-lacy.
0:33.3	And the majority opinion was that she shouldn't be taken very seriously at all.
0:38.0	Nikki Haley will not be the next president, read the headline on that piece.
0:43.4	When reading these assessments that confidently predicts that Nikki Haley is doomed, I couldn't
0:50.2	help but think about 2008.
0:53.1	When everyone said Barack Obama would be steamrolled by Hillary Clinton, or 2016, when pundits,
1:00.6	myself included, declared that Donald Trump would never win the Republican nomination, and
1:05.1	even if he did, would never be president.
1:07.7	Or in the 2020 Democratic primaries, when the same thing was said about Joe Biden.
1:14.2	Someone else who remembers this history, Nikki Haley.
1:18.2	At her announcement speech on Wednesday in Charleston, South Carolina, Haley acknowledged
1:22.7	the low expectations she faces.
1:26.3	And she suggested she sees it as a feature, not a bug.
1:30.3	I've been underestimated before.
1:33.2	That's always fun.
	...

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