Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley was mercilessly mocked after she shared two encouraging messages she said came from her supporters.
However, one of the messages appeared to be an email that was never sent, and so the validity of the purported support was questioned in its entirety.
On her X account on Thursday night, Haley said, “Americans want a choice in this election, not a rerun.”
“I’m overwhelmed by all of the kind words! We’ll keep working hard to make you proud,” she added.
The former South Carolina governor included a screenshot of a message that looked as if it had been written by hand and on lined paper.
But the message was neither.
It read, “I want to encourage Nikki Haley to keep pressing on!!! We need a competent and committed leader to stay the course in the bid for the presidency. I’m an Independent and I have voted for the BEST candidate every election cycle and this year, it’s Nikki!”
The purported letter of support was attributed to “Mary A.”
Americans want a choice in this election, not a rerun.
I’m overwhelmed by all of the kind words! We’ll keep working hard to make you proud. pic.twitter.com/0J43sSakD0
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) February 2, 2024
The other attached message was an email from “Michael B.” that read:
“PLEASE DO NOT GIVE UP YOUR FIGHT!! In a world that’s become crazy with strife, we need a level headed conservative leader to navigate us through the insanity!
“NO ONE is more capable than you are to right the ship, and heal this great nation! WE NEED you Nikki! This country NEEDS you! Our allies, and the beautiful people of this world need you!
“I don’t want to see you give up, and I guarantee you there are millions more out there who feel exactly as I do!”
The message appeared to have been typed out and not sent — meaning the person who supposedly authored it decided not to hit the “send” button and instead took a screenshot of the message and found a way to get that to Haley.
Numerous people who came across the candidate’s post responded with mockery:
Totally baffling decision to make these obviously fake messages https://t.co/Cyi5cnUhbQ
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) February 2, 2024
The return address on both was 123 Fake Street. https://t.co/IfSNDU2nUS
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) February 2, 2024
Please fire your PR team so I can stop having secondhand embarrassment. https://t.co/EnLQiDde9G
— Sara Gonzales (@SaraGonzalesTX) February 2, 2024
Hit send next time and change up the font once in a while. pic.twitter.com/FDGbFHrGMh
— Bad Hombre (@joma_gc) February 2, 2024
Why do you have a screenshot of the email before it was sent? 🤣
— Frank McCormick | Chalkboard Heresy (@CBHeresy) February 2, 2024
This is so incredibly cringe.
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 2, 2024
Haley had not addressed the criticism on X by early Friday afternoon.
The Western Journal reached out to her campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
A Monmouth University survey released on Thursday found that Haley trails the front-runner in the GOP primary race — former President Donald Trump — in her home state by 26 points.
The South Carolina primary is set for Feb. 24.
