The USA, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Last week Nikki Haley became the second Republican officially running for president in 2024. The first to announce, as most people know was Donald Trump. Haley is, at first glance, a very strong candidate. Her resume, which includes time as a state legislator, just short of two terms as governor of South Carolina and serving as US Ambassador to the United Nations during Donald Trump’s presidency, is the kind of combination of domestic and foreign policy that is very appealing in presidential aspirants. At 51 years old, Haley represents a generational transition from the aging Donald Trump. Additionally, as a woman of color-Haley is Indian American-Haley could present the GOP as more than a party of older white guys.
Despite all this, Haley has almost no chance of winning the nomination. She has little name recognition, trails the dual frontrunners Trump and Ron DeSantis, and has no real record of accomplishment or raison d’etre for running other than it seems like the next thing to do.
Based on demographics, it is tempting to see Haley as a different kind of Republican not mired in the angry, grievance-based MAGA politics that have taken over the Republican Party since 2016, but that is not the case. Haley is very much part of the MAGA Republican movement; and only a few days into her presidential campaign, it is apparent she is planning to run on that kind of platform as well.
Haley has announced that one of her major campaign themes will be “renewal of American pride,” a kind of MAGA 2.0. Given the myriad problems facing the US: climate change, mass shootings, wealth inequality, the lasting damage from Covid, domestic terrorism, inadequate and expensive healthcare and so much more, focusing on an alleged absence of national pride is absurd.
“Renewal of American pride” in today’s context is a not very thinly concealed racial appeal. The phrase “American pride” is a response to the current right-wing view that in their parlance “radical socialists” are destroying the country by doing things like teaching young people basic truths about American history, such as slavery and the genocide of indigenous people. For conservatives, anybody who even suggests that the US is fallible and still needs to wrestle with its racist past can damage delicate young white minds and ultimately destroy the country. This is, of course, abject nonsense, but it is this nonsense that is at the core of today’s Republican Party.
Haley, despite her background, has bought into the white grievance narrative that white Americans are the victims of a changing and more diverse US. This has already emerged as a theme of her campaign even beyond her inane slogan. For example, the pastor who gave the convocation at Haley’s campaign announcement was John Hagee. Hagee is a far-right preacher whose public statements have been steeped in anti-LGBT bigotry, antisemitism, anti-Catholic sentiment, and Islamophobia for decades. By giving somebody like Hagee, with whom Haley has a long relationship, such a prominent role early in her campaign Haley is sending a clear message to the bigots that fuel the far right of what is euphemistically referred to as the culture wars in the US.
Haley’s campaign announcement included a campaign video in which Haley repeats how “blessed” we Americans are to live in America. The video mixes generic politician platitudes with right-wing themes but is most notable for what it leaves out. About halfway through the film, Haley, who narrates the entire video, mentions when “evil did come (to South Carolina),” referring to the horrific mass shooting inside an African American church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015. Haley was governor then and sought to support the people of her state at a very difficult time. As a further response to the shooting, she also removed the Confederate Flag that had flown over the South Carolina Capitol since 1961. This detail was left out of the video. The only possible explanation for that was that Haley didn’t want to alienate the white racist vote in a Republican primary.
In other words, in her video announcing her candidacy for president, Haley deliberately left out the removal of the flag of a polity that sought to destroy the United States and remains a symbol of white supremacy because she didn’t want to upset the racists-and this is what many believe is the post-Trump face of the Republican party.
Despite the tough road ahead for Haley as she tries to become her party’s nominee for president in 2024, she brings a combination of youth, energy, media skills, and accomplishment that are unmatched by any major Republican politician looking at the race. However, there is little reason to believe this is anything more than a better presentation of the angry, grievance-based messages that have been the handmaiden of the Republican Party’s efforts to weaken American democracy since 2016.
