Credit: CNN
Nikki Haley is among the top-ranked potential presidential candidates for 2024. She doesn’t usually directly criticize former President Donald Trump in any interviews she gives.
However, her campaign came up with a confidential memo to take a few jabs at Trump.
The Haley campaign leaked their memo to Axios, which said it was a scoop. An Axios reporter confirmed that the memo came from the campaign.
Fox News shared:
Haley has raised $11 million in six weeks, and the memo from campaign manager Betsy Ankney says: “Donald Trump had a pretty good Q1, if you count being indicted as ‘good.'”
Zing!
“Still, it’s increasingly clear that Trump’s candidacy is more consumed by the grievances of the past and the promise of more drama in the future, rather than a forward-looking vision for the American people.” Perfectly fair shots – but why couldn’t Haley say these things herself? Who is she fooling? Perhaps she thinks she’s avoiding a Trump counterattack by laundering it through the press. The memo also says of Ron DeSantis that he’s “not ready for prime time.”
Still, the memo didn’t make much news, not in this environment. Sen. Tim Scott announced a presidential exploratory committee yesterday. Which means he’s running.
The Senate’s only black Republican is an attractive candidate with a compelling life story, which he summarizes as “from cotton to Congress.”
Scott said in a video message, “I know America is a land of opportunity, not a land of oppression. I know it because I lived it.”
When more Republicans jump in the race, they increase the chances of Trump cruising to the nomination as they divide the opposition vote.
Both Haley and Scott get only a small fraction of the coverage that Trump attracts.
Axios shared about the Haley memo:
The other candidates might offer a “quick flash,” but Haley’s campaign says they’re outpacing the competition on policy: “We put forward concrete policy plans on foreign aid, immigration, spending restraint, entitlement reform, and yes, mental competency tests for politicians over age 75.”
The backdrop: Haley has so far rejected the “splashy” campaigning of her competitors, instead sticking to traditional retail politics during an election in which the GOP primary and electorate have been completely refashioned in Trump’s image.
- The former UN ambassador has barnstormed Iowa and New Hampshire, holding nearly 20 events with voters in the last six weeks. She’s also held events in South Carolina and talked about immigration at the southern border.
The bottom line: As Republicans will try to distinguish themselves from Trump without perturbing his base, Haley’s campaign will try a “discipline” versus “drama” approach to taking out the party’s leader.
Trump sat down with Tucker Carlson for an interview.
He said that he would stay in the race even if he was convicted in the Stormy Daniel’s case. He said that when he was brought in for the arraignment, “They were actually crying. They said ‘I’m sorry.’ They’d say ‘2024, sir, 2024.’ And tears are pouring down their eyes.”
He was asked if Joe Biden would stay in the race.
“Look, I watch him just like you do, and I think it’s almost inappropriate for me to say it. But I deal with other people. I don’t see – I don’t see how it’s possible.”
“And it’s not an age thing.”
Trump said that Biden was “not top of the line” and he also then talked about some leaders from around the world.
Vladimir Putin? “Very smart,” said Trump.
“People ask me, how smart is Xi? I say, top of the line. You’ve never met anybody smarter. How smart is Kim Jong-un? Top of the line.”
Whether people agree with Trump or not isn’t the point. He generates buzz and gets people talking. He always knows how to position himself in the front and be the gossip.
WTF more about ms Haley and insufferable ads than Trump…