Nikki Haley: “The first party to withdraw its 80-year-old candidate will win this election”

Nikki Haley has a new nickname. “Nimbra”, or “Nimrada”, Donald Trump isn’t quite sure yet. On several occasions throughout January, as her rival in the Republican primary appeared more and more in the media, the former president tried to discredit Haley by calling her by her birth name: Nimarata. But without being able to write it correctly.

Born to Sikh Indian parents who emigrated to the United States in the 1960s, the candidate was born on American soil in 1972 and is now the first black woman to run for the Republican nomination. Appealing to the racist fringe of his party, Donald Trump reveals, mocking his rival, another truth: Nikki Haley may be starting to scare him a little.

The American dream

Daughter of an immigrant professor and businessman, from the only existing Sikh family, married to an American soldier currently stationed in Djibouti, the youngest governor of South Carolina and then US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley’s journey , 52 years old, has everything about the American dream. And she never misses an opportunity to remind him. “ She talks a lot about her family background, in particular the fact that as a child she worked with her mother in her shop, before becoming an accountant, she insists on her career as a business manager and on her knowledge of the private sector, which is very important among Republicans “, notes Marie-Christine Bonzom, political scientist specializing in the United States and former correspondent in Washington for 30 years.

Donald Trump would therefore not be entirely wrong to worry about this; if he suffers setbacks in states where the former president is still king, Nikki Haley would be a better candidate to run against Joe Biden in the November general election. According to a January 10 YouGov poll, she would get 53% of the vote against Biden (compared to 50% for Trump). This popularity could be explained by a simple mathematical reason: “ It can convince moderate Republicans, as well as independent voters, that they are neither Republicans nor Democrats », explains Bonzom. But are there still “moderate” Republicans on the surface of America? “Trump has cannibalized the party to such an extent that moderates are becoming rare, but there are still some, especially in the Senate. Some Republicans even suspect that Trump is a mole sent by the Democrats to demolish the party…”

Hybrid

Since launching her campaign a year ago, Nikki Haley has walked a tightrope. In one thread, she alternates between defending the record of Donald Trump, for whom she served as ambassador to the United Nations during his term, and violent criticism of him. At the end of January you supported Trump’s order to pay 83 million dollars to E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of a rape that occurred in 1996 (the sentence related to the defamation trial). Already in 2021 she had strongly condemned her role in the assault on the Capitol by her supporters.

“She has a hybrid program, close to Trump on immigration but influenced by Hillary Clinton on the role of the United States in the world, i.e. interventionist, which distinguishes her from Trump” analyzes Bonzom. «On abortion he supports a ‘compassionate conservatism’ which he borrows from George W. Bush and which consists of declaring himself pro-life but supporting a law that would ban abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy, almost like in France. And on Ukraine he wishes, like Biden, to continue supporting the country against Russia, unlike Trump. »

She must also denounce “socialism” and “Wokism,” underlining her status as a racialized candidate and the generational renewal she could represent. On January 23, in her speech in New Hampshire, she expressed herself as follows: “The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate will be the party that wins this election. »

“ Because Republicans reject identitarianism, she presents herself primarily as “American,” not Indian-American, nor even as a woman… » adds Bonzom. Because here too the exercise is delicate. If she appeared in Ohio wearing a “Dare Who Wins” sweater by designer Alice Temperley, and sometimes implies that her opponents’ attacks are sexist, there’s no doubt she’s playing the feminist card. Campaigning in Iowa in mid-January, she declared: “Think about the fact that you could make history, and I’m not talking about the history of electing a woman president, I’m talking about the history of us finally righting the ship that is America. »

“ She is in favor of women’s access to positions of power and is very involved in the national association of women entrepreneurs, but rejects what she considers “radical” feminism. analyzes Marie-Christine Bonzom. In other words, Nikki Haley’s feminism is closer to Shiv Roy’s than to Gloria Steinem’s.

Much money

Since Ron DeSantis withdrew from the race for the nomination, major American donors are turning to Nikki Haley. At the end of 2023 you received a check from the Koch family, then from the founder ofHome depot Ken Langone and finally $250,000 from Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn. To discredit his opponent, Donald Trump just has to try to annoy him. Mission Impossible. “He never gets angry!” »exclaims Marie-Christine Bonzom. “He expresses harsh criticism in a firm tone but always with a smile. In a debate, he would crush Trump or Biden. »

Except that Donald Trump refuses the confrontation. Even more, the former president arranged to give interviews at the same time as Haley’s debates. To know the fate of Nikki Haley’s candidacy we will have to wait for Super Tuesday on March 5, when 15 states will vote at the same time. Without forgetting that four trials await Donald Trump between March and August 2024. “Nimarata Nikki” does not forget this.