The Nikki Haley shocker that wasn’t

| 5:31 pm EDT May 23, 2024
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People on social media still seem surprised and disappointed that Nikki Haley ended up endorsing Donald Trump. There was apparently an expectation that she might “do the right thing” but now there’s the belief that she “lacked the spine” or “lacked the courage” to do it. I find this kind of thing just so odd.

When Haley decided to endorse Trump yesterday, nothing fundamentally changed about her nature. She wasn’t leaning toward “good” when she was running against him and condemning him. She’s not suddenly leaning toward “bad” now that she’s endorsing him. Such concepts simply do not exist in right wing politics. Never have, never will.

At every point in Nikki Haley’s career, she’s done what right wing politicians always do: whatever she thought was best for herself and her career trajectory. At times that’s meant being pro-Trump and at other times it’s meant being anti-Trump, but that’s always been incidental. The idea that the lever on Haley has been going back and forth between “good” and “bad” is almost hilariously naive. She’s a right wing Republican. She’s been “bad” every minute of her political existence. Duh.

The real problem is that during the times Haley has strategically and selfishly been anti-Trump in order to advance her own agenda, the media has portrayed such behavior as “good” or “principled.” And during the times when Haley has strategically and selfishly been pro-Trump in order to advance her own agenda, the media has portrayed such behavior as “bad” and “spineless.” But such descriptions are a joke, because they have nothing to do with Haley’s decision making.

Understanding the behavior of right wing Republican politicians is very, very simple: they always do whatever they think is selfishly best for themselves and their own careers. Haley was always going to endorse Trump if she concluded that it was what was selfishly best for her. And she was always going to remain anti-Trump if she concluded that was selfishly best for her. We make it so complicated and go so far out of our way to misunderstand it. And yet it’s so simple.

Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.