It’s bad enough for Nikki Haley that she’s the target of most of the Republican field at the moment. Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, Chris Christie — they all seem to be turning their fire on her.
Now, it seems, even 9-year-olds are taking it out on the media’s new favorite Trump alternative.
At an event in New Hampshire on Thursday, the pre-teen went viral after saying that, on the issue of Donald Trump, she was “basically the new John Kerry” because of her flip-flopping.
The question was addressing criticism from Christie that Haley was being soft on Trump; as the New York Post noted, Haley has tried to have it both ways, arguing that the former president was the right leader for the time he was in office, his efficacy would be limited due to what she termed the “chaos” he causes.
At the event in North Conway, New Hampshire, the 51-year old Haley was confronted on the incongruence by the 9-year-old.
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“Chris Christie thinks you’re a flip-flopper on the Donald Trump issue, and honestly, I agree with him,” the child said to Haley, who was Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations
“You’re basically the new John Kerry, if you remember John Kerry from 2004.”
JUST IN — Young kid trolls Nikki Haley at campaign stop:
“So Chris Christie thinks that you’re a flip-flopper on the Donald Trump issue. And honestly, I agree with him. You’re basically the new John Kerry.”
This is becoming a genre. pic.twitter.com/j1KcHjtisr
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) December 28, 2023
Should Nikki Haley drop out of the race?
Yes, Nikki Haley is being schooled about John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic standard-bearer notable for his flip-flopping on the Iraq War, by a child who wouldn’t even be born for another decade. Ouch.
The kid went on to ask how she could “change your opinion like that in just eight years, and will you pardon Donald Trump?”
Haley then went on to say she got flak from both “anti-Trumpers” and “pro-Trumpers” for her stance on the former president and current GOP front-runner.
“I told you that I agreed with a lot of his policies. But do I think he’s the right president to go forward? No,” Haley said.
“We can’t handle the chaos anymore.”
Well, apparently voters don’t feel that way. According to the RealClearPolitics polling aggregate as of Friday morning, Trump is at 62.5 percent nationally, 51.2 points clear of his next closest challenger.
While New Hampshire is closer, that still doesn’t make it close; there, Trump is merely up by 21.5 over Haley, 46.3 percent to 24.8 percent.
Furthermore, it shouldn’t be a matter of pride to be hated by both the pro-Trump and anti-Trump forces within the Republican Party. To Haley’s ear, this makes her sound independent. But to most voters, all it shows is that the field is united on one issue: She’s not the woman to carry on either Trump’s legacy or move the Republican Party forward.
That said, Haley has been the only candidate to show steady improvement in the polls aside from Trump. However, she seems to have more or less hit her ceiling — and the rest of the field is training its fire on her. Even Chris Christie — who Haley noted was “obsessed” with Trump — has taken a break from attacking the former president in order to attack her.
Now, even 9-year-olds are comparing Haley to John Kerry. As much as Haley tried to smile and laugh it off, that one had to hurt.
