We have another example of Nikki Haley talking out of both sides of her mouth with regards to Trump’s legal troubles. I’m sure most of you have already heard that Haley has promised to pardon Trump IF he is convicted in any of his federal trials. Haley embraces the Gerald Ford rationalization (We must heal a divided nation!), but Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project spills the tea on Haley’s true feelings and motives on her latest pronouncement. To wit: Haley knows Trump is guilty as hell, and this is the two week countdown to Haley dropping out of the “race” and endorsing Trump for president.
First up, Haley’s BS explanation for any future pardon of Trump by a fantasy President Haley:
Asked the question directly by an audience member at a Fox News town hall in South Carolina, where she once served as governor, Haley said a pardon would be in the country’s “best interest” so Americans can work to “leave the negativity behind” without being further divided.
“If you’re talking about pardoning Trump, it’s not a matter of innocence or guilt at that point, because that means he would have already been found guilty,” Haley said at the town hall, hosted by John Roberts. “I believe, in the best interest of bringing the country together, I would pardon Donald Trump. Because I think it’s important for the country to move on.”
“We’ve got to leave the negativity and the baggage behind,” she added. “I don’t want this country divided any further. I don’t think it’s in the best interests for America to have an 80-year-old president sitting in jail and having everybody upset about it. I think this would be the time that we would need to move forward and get this out of the way.”
I literally time warped to my childhood and watching Nixon resign then be pardoned by President Gerald Ford.
As many of us old fogies recall, American voters didn’t buy Ford’s pardon of Nixon after Watergate. And Haley is literally using the exact same damn language as Ford for justifying his granting of a pardon to Nixon. The majority of Americans saw it as a corrupt bargain to help Nixon escape justice. In fact, it’s one of the big reasons why Ford lost to Jimmy Carter in 1976.
And the reason we have Trump is because Nixon was pardoned. If Nixon had gone to prison, would Trump have ever run for president if he knew he could go to prison? I think he would have found another way to continue grifting rather than risk prison.
But Rick Wilson let out what Haley has been saying about Trump’s guilt to her corporate donors behind closed doors, and it confirms what many of us knew but didn’t have real confirmation of:
Haley has been telling her wealthy donors, “Yes, Trump is guilty of stealing government documents and leading an insurrection on Jan 6th.” But she will not tell the rubes — Trump voters — the TRUTH. In Haley’s mind, she believes she is still politically viable in 2028, especially after promising a fantasy pardon for Trump.
Wilson is as dismissive of Haley as we are on Daily Kos. Haley has no political future because she dared run against the Orange Messiah. Trumpists will never forgive Haley for this cardinal sin, and she’s as delusional about her political future as Mike Pence and Ron DeSantis. She’s done, but her debasement to all things Trump is not over.
Haley will end up endorsing Trump for president. This announcement of a pardon for Trump is setting the stage for Haley to humiliate herself on the altar of Trumpism.