Nikki Haley unleashes a tweet hammering Tenet Media co-founder and now-fired BlazeTV host, Lauren Chen, who was implicated as part of an alleged Russian disinformation scheme, meant to influence the right wing with pro-Russia talking points.
Karma's a bitch, @TheLaurenChen https://t.co/puoAHammPa
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) September 6, 2024
So here’s some context to Haley’s dig.
Chen, as the tweet noted, famously labeled Haley “America’s Last Neocon” for the former presidential candidate’s unwavering support for Ukraine (generally) and for the clip (specifically) below from a 2023 Townhall meeting where Haley made the case for funding.
To wit:
.@NikkiHaley should move to Ukraine and run for its presidency then.
— Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) June 5, 2023
Spare us the America Last Neocon talking points. https://t.co/czRVF0WYdc
Chen’s post was viewed by 3.8 million and the popular rightwing influencer went on to tweet this follow up: “America’s border is wide open and under siege. The last thing people in America need to be concerned about is Ukraine’s border.”
That, of course, distills the Republican isolationist view on Ukraine over the past couple years. Its effectiveness comes from presenting the right wing with a fundamental choice: either protect the U.S. border or protect the Ukrainian border.
Those are the “only two options” and if you’re truly America First, whose borders matter more?
That argument is paired with the on again-off again nature of the populist’s concern about the deficit. “We can’t spend money on both efforts. Look at the national debt. Don’t you remember the Tea Party Movement? We’re still its heirs.”
So it’s an anti-Ukraine message that speaks uniquely to the Republican grassroots through two issues.
Haley and members of the older GOP guard have been fighting the idea that protecting the borders of both Ukraine and the United States is somehow incompatible. Mostly, they’ve been losing that fight.
Now what: Of course, Chen and Tenant’s alleged role in the Russian disinformation scheme doesn’t mean a populist rightwing is going to abandon its isolationism. Haley probably feels it’s a brief moment of vindication, yet it remains to be seen whether it’s just that — a brief moment. And it’s unlikely to change the populist wing’s message on Ukraine.
2028 implications: Even though it’s doubtful anybody will remember this brief episode, it’s part of the continuing arc of Haley’s apparent post-2024 strategy of holding firm on her foreign policy convictions (making her even more attractive to the centrist wing of the party), while she somehow tries to make that work with the elements of MAGA she’ll need in a 2028 campaign.
Thus, in the same week, she’s both blasted a popular right wing influencer and also noted on CBS that she’s on “standby” for Trump’s reelection campaign and “should he ask, I’m happy to be helpful.”
The Haley Path is one of the most fascinating to watch.
The big question – would Trump ask her to serve again in his administration and would she do it?
[Photo: by Gage Skidmore, Wikipedia].
