Nikki Haley has not been having a good last couple of days.
As my colleague Jennifer Oliver O’Connell noted, she gave an answer on the Civil War that caused an uproar and may truly hurt her campaign because she failed to mention slavery when asked about its causes.
Nikki Haley offered a waffling, noncommittal response when asked by a voter to explicitly state that she would not accept an offer to be Donald Trump’s vice president.
“This is a chance to redeem yourself after last night’s slavery thing,” an attendee said to the Republican presidential contender at a town hall event in Lebanon, New Hampshire, on Thursday night. “Would you be able to say categorically that you will not accept being Trump’s vice president?”
Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador under Trump, left the door open in her response.
“I could say to you what you want to hear, and you could go check that box and go do whatever. But I’m going to continue to tell you my truth, and the truth that I have always told the truth, even when I was in the administration,” she said. “President Trump and I worked well together. Why? Because I told him the truth.”
Specifically addressing the vice presidency, she said: “I’ve said before, I don’t play for second. I’ve never played for second. I’m not gonna start now.”
Voter: This is a chance to redeem yourself after last night’s slavery thing. Would you be able to say categorically that you will not accept being Trump’s VP?
Haley: pic.twitter.com/JeJ6wmZBI5
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 29, 2023
But then again on Thursday, she got a question that put her on the spot by a nine-year-old boy.
“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 in the ski town of North Conway as the audience laughed. “How can you change your opinion like that in just eight years, and will you pardon Donald Trump?”
Video below:
Oh, my, that’s a question. I’m just thinking that comparing someone to John Kerry is not a compliment since he’s known for being wrong on so much. Haley held it together, with a smile frozen on her face, but she couldn’t have anticipated getting that kind of a question from a nine-year-old.