Nikki Haley Tried to Save the Republican Party
Nearly 10 years ago, Donald Trump rode down a gaudy, golden escalator from his high perch atop Trump Tower down to the masses to announce his run for president. That moment would dramatically change the trajectory of the Republican Party in America — for the worse, and maybe irreparably.
That was the fear amongst many conservatives, including myself, who saw in Trump a dangerous, ignorant, narcissistic, demagogue and grifter who was untethered from the thing that mattered most to us — conservatism.
We’d later learn he was untethered from other things, too — a moral compass, ethical standards, the United States Constitution, American law, and even reality at times.
We’d watch Trump convince previously principled conservatives to abandon their principles. We’d watch Republicans jettison policy for culture wars, democracy for division, political competence for conspiracy theories.
We’d watch Trump convince an angry mob to storm the U.S. Capitol in a brazen and violent attempt to overturn democracy. We’d watch him tempt the legal system to hold him accountable for dozens of alleged felonies, including fraud and obstruction.
And we’d watch his once mighty empire crumble as he faces hundreds of millions in legal fines and fees.
Now, years later, despite everything we’ve watched, Trump is poised to be the Republican nominee once again after nearly sweeping the primaries on Super Tuesday.
The one ray of hope inside the Republican Party, a party that Trump has wholly remade in his crooked image, was Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina and Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.
After knocking out bigger spenders and buzzier candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, she became the last woman standing between Trump and the nomination. She impressively won 40% of the vote in numerous Republican primary and caucus states, and won outright Vermont and Washington, D.C., making her the first Republican woman ever to win a primary and the only Republican to beat him anywhere since 2016.
She wasn’t a perfect candidate, but she spoke to a growing number of Republicans, moderates, and independents who desperately wanted a Trump alternative.
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