Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley called Vice President Kamala Harris a failure in an interview with Fox on Tuesday.
"Everything she has ever been given, she has failed at," she said. "That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact."
The former United Nations ambassador’s words came in response to an accusation made on X, formerly Twitter, that Haley had been tapping into and trying to capitalize on latent racism within segments of the Republican base.
The accusation came from Jemele Hill, a sports journalist and contributing writer for the Atlantic.
Jamele took to the social media platform X to denounce Haley for stating that “a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris.”
"So part of the reason racism is such a terrible sickness in this country is because politicians like this know they can rally a certain base with the fear of OH MY GOD A BLACK WOMAN MIGHT BE PRESIDENT IF YOU DON’T VOTE FOR ME," Hill wrote.
So part of the reason racism is such a terrible sickness in this country is because politicians like this know they can rally a certain base with the fear of OH MY GOD A BLACK WOMAN MIGHT BE PRESIDENT IF YOU DON’T VOTE FOR ME.Then we want to act all surprised when the most… https://t.co/6R5m0TAB07
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) August 27, 2023
Haley’s original X post read, “The truth is: A vote for Joe Biden is a vote for President Kamala Harris.”
The words accompanied an image of the politician captioned by a quote of hers declaring that “everyone in America can see Joe Biden’s decline and have concerns about his ability to serve a second term. They know a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris. The media needs to stop protecting Biden and tell America the truth."
On the Tuesday Fox News segment, Haley hit back, asserting that Hill’s comments were completely off-base.
“She is saying that to a minority female that’s running for president. This has nothing to do with Kamala’s gender or Kamala’s race,” Haley said. “This has everything to do with Kamala’s incompetence. That’s what this is about. Every American knows that if Kamala Harris becomes president, we are in serious trouble of losing our country," Haley argued. "Everything she’s ever been given, she has failed at. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact."
Haley went on to call the vice president’s record into question.
"Show us what she’s done on the border. Show us what she’s done with artificial intelligence, show us what she’s done to improve this administration’s standings on freedom, or the economy, or inflation, or the border, or national security," she argued. "There is just not anything there."
Haley then doubled down on her X statement.
“And look,” Haledy added. “We’re going to call it like we see it. A vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris. And the thought of a president Kamala Harris should send a chill up every American spine and I refuse to let that happen, and that’s why we are focused on winning. We've had a great response since the debate, we have had just great support going to NikkiHaley.com, and we've got a country to save and I’m determined to do it.”
Haley makes modest popularity gains
According to FiveThirtyEight, Haley has indeed made modest gains since the first GOP primary debate.
On the date of the debate, August 23rd, Haley was polling at 3.4%. Currently, she is polling at 5.3%, according to the latest data on the polling data website.
Furthermore, a Wednesday article from the Hill noted that a Trump pollster said that Haley “has surged” in polls conducted in Iowa. Iowa is a key state because, as it votes first in the primary elections, can influence voting in subsequent states.