A Unitary GOP Moves to Crush Haley

Trump the man has seldom been worse, but his team is running a masterful campaign.

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Sen. Tim Scott speaks as former President Donald Trump listens during a campaign event in Concord, New Hampshire, on January 19, 2024. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

CONCORD, New Hampshire—First it was Sen. Marco Rubio endorsing Donald Trump over Rubio’s home-state governor, Ron DeSantis, ahead of the Iowa caucuses.

Now it’s South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott with a slap in the face to his former governor, Nikki Haley, ahead of her do-or-die New Hampshire primary bid. 

“We need a president who will unite our country. We need Donald Trump,” Scott told an audience here, not betraying even a wink at a statement that is, even by Trump’s biggest fans, preposterous. 

The veepstakes has a new frontrunner, ladies and gentlemen.

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  1. Lorelle Blackwell

    "... There is one danger that we know of, however. And that’s not about Trump, but about a country and a party that would reward with another term a person who tried to topple a legitimately elected successor. ..."
    Still beating that dead horse for the Democrats? smh I expected better.

    I lived in SC for a time and I find the many underestimating Senator Scott more laughable than those who underestimated Trump in 2015. The "Opportunity Zones" were almost exclusively work done by Senator Scott. He stood near Trump when they were announced and the ignorant thought he was a token and were unaware that he was the one who actually worked to get them implemented because they didn't pay attention to what was being said.

    Living in SC during Nikki's terms as governor, also taught me much about her. I voted for her the first time. Huge mistake! She's a sock puppet and what comes out of her mouth depends on whose hand is in the sock and how much they paid to get there. The main reason Trump made her ambassador to the UN was to shut her up. She had been sniping at him since he announced. He threw her in over head and knew she'd be so busy keeping her nose above water she'd not have time to cause him any trouble.

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      Dborja

      Grow up. It's not Stirewalt who is beating a dead horse. Trump is the one who grunts, burps, wines, honks continuously about stolen election mythes and January 6 hostages. That and many (many) other things have made it disgraceful and disgusting to identify as a Republican. I had high hopes for Scott but he is a spineless opportunist, just like most of the rest of the GOP leadership. There is no real home now for the Reagan/Bush people in the party. Time to let the rats have the sinking ship

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        C C Writer

        First I'm going to see if Haley gets traction after all. Trump may have overplayed it and brought all this to the attention of the normie voting public and they're now waking up. Permanently barred--yes, please bar me!. Cancel the primaries--I don't think you actually can.

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  2. BadgerBill

    “We need a president who will unite our country. We need Donald Trump.”

    I went from indifference to Scott to contempt in one sentence.

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  3. Cody Murphy

    Every single person who endorses Trump is a traitor

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    Collin

    The GOP field uniting behind Trump is pretty solid evidence that he and his crew are the Republican establishment. Whenever MAGA-world blames the Establishment for the GOP’s failures from now on, they are blaming Trump and his acolytes. They run the party, and they own its success and failures.

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  5. Sai Ayila

    Tim Scott gets upset and whines on fox that he gets called a "token" but that's actually a generous description of Mr. Scott. Sununu said it the best, Tim Scott would be nobody without haley. It was Haley who appointed him as states first black senator when no gov from south dared to appoint a black senator, she did. Instead of so called "respected" senator, he would be a nobody podcaster like larry elder, Candace Owen or Leo Terrell had haley had not appointed him to that role. Is this how he repays Haley? I don't mind him not endorsing Haley but endorsing trump is a sheer betrayal of him to a person who took risks appointed him into a top congressional spot. Trump made so many racist remarks its not even funny. He called for those central park alleged black rapists to be executed without any due process later it turned out to false and their confessions were found to be coerced. No apology from trump. That's one example there so many others. But off course Tim Scott will turn a blind eye because he has man crush on trump or may be he is hoping to take short cut to get into the white house I don't know. Im not a big fan of Haley myself, but she had proven herself to be an effective gov but declined as soon she took un ambassador role. But Haley needs to be treated better by some of her GOP colleagues who continue to suck up to trump. Tim Scott is a big disappointment

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    1. Russell J

      Others have mentioned some of Scott’s policy qualifications better elsewhere in these comments. I just think it is important to pinpoint when someone crosses a line rather than covering over what once made them an important figure. “Token” is just unfair to people who supported Scott and dislike his recent transformation, not to mention the man. Scott was at one point a consistent Senator who delivered prepared remarks very well, tended to do well in TV interviews, reportedly was good at in person politics and managed to be liked by the widest range of officials in the Republican orbit. He was overwhelmingly positive, forward-looking, and wisely avoided embracing MAGA. That sort of sounded like the best bet at one point for a political candidate no matter race or gender so kudos for Haley in recognizing his ability early. Unfortunately, Scott is bad at debating and attempted to try the pugilistic campaign style which doesn’t suit him, then he decided to jump in completely with MAGA. His policy awareness is probably limited as is that of most Congressmen. Haley is very well rounded and is just a better candidate and if she kisses Trump’s ring, the criticism is deserved for that moment and not for what has been a very solid campaign in a difficult environment. Presidential campaigns are hard and expose most weaknesses. That is true of all the guys who bowed out already from Asa to Christie to Burgum to Pence. Silly to say those guys are worthless or empty vessels, they just are worse at this particular match than Haley. I honestly think all of them would be a happy replacement for JD Vance. The job isn’t very hard.

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    🚲 PamF

    Any chance Trump wins the presidency, does his dictator thing the first day, then resigns?

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    Christine Parker

    How does DeSantis' sudden decision to drop out and endorse Trump play out? Will his supporters go to Trump or will they break for Haley?

    I'm not trolling, genuinely want to know what people think.

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  8. NorthStater

    "A Unitary GOP Moves to Crush Haley"

    No kidding. Today, DeSantis dropped out of the race and endorsed... wait for it... the sociopath and sex offender, claiming that "Trump is superior to the current incumbent, Joe Biden. That is clear" and "He has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents."

    https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ron-desantis-ends-presidential-campaign-new-hampshire-primary/story?id=106551804

    https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-250c8ed4b49843350e258f0c2754c8ba

    It's all about gaining and holding on to power with these people.

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  9. Betsybowditch

    Tim Scott seems an ideal running mate from Trump's perspective. He has very little presence and, as far as I could discern, few ideas. He was pushing tax cuts as a means to increase government revenues. That didn't work under Reagan or GWB. Fool me once...

    By contrast, Trump would be leery of signing on Elise Stefanik or JD Vance, both of whom have established themselves in the public eye. He wouldn't want to risk diluting his brand by mixing it with theirs.

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      JDW

      It worked great under Reagan. I won't say it will always work. I believe in the Laffer curve though. There is a bend at some point. The revenues under Reagan were a lot higher but the expenditures were a lot higher too. Reagan massively increased defense spending to defeat the Soviets. But if you measure revenue it did go up.

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      1. Betsybowditch

        The top [tax] rate fell from 70 percent to 50 percent [under the Reagan}. The tax cut didn’t pay for itself. According to later Treasury estimates, it reduced federal revenues by about 9 percent in the first couple of years. In fact, most of the top Reagan administration officials didn’t think the tax cut would pay for itself. They were counting on spending cuts to avoid blowing up the deficit. But they never materialized.

        https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-we-learned-from-reagans-tax-cuts/

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      Dusty

      “He has very little presence and, as far as I could discern, few ideas.”

      Well that would be incorrect. From opportunity zones for distressed areas to police reforms, Tim Scott has ideas and has been a lead proponent of them.

      One may disagree with the ideas or dislike the fact that he endorsed Trump, but the man isn’t just some performing talking head.

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      1. Betsybowditch

        He talks about the value of limited government and free enterprise and the engine of economic growth. But in his case, the Senator got his big break in 2010 when he won election to the U.S. House—guaranteeing him a $174,000 annual salary, nearly triple the $60,000 he had paid himself as the owner of an insurance business. From there he earned close to a million dollars writing a book with the byline, "The American Dream isn’t a thing of the past, but a miracle of the present."

        Like the former House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, the government has been a better employer than their own businesses.

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          Dusty

          Well that’s an entirely different point than your original point, but ok.

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          1. Betsybowditch

            The two are related. What he advocates, and you are right he has some ideas that I wasn't aware of, is completely at odds with his own achievement of the American Dream.

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  10. Renicksmith

    "But the Trump that is winning is the unitary Trump—the Trump that encompasses his professional campaign, legal team, army of surrogates, and now, the broad Republican establishment."

    Excellent point -- and a wonderful way to illustrate the situation. Grateful we're able to read Stirewalt here.

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