Nikki Haley Lost Before She Started | The New Yorker

 

Nikki Haley Lost the South Carolina Primary Back When She Was Still Governor In her home state, Haley came to power as an outsider and never won over the good ol’ boys of the local Republican establishment. Now they’re supporting Trump. Photograph by Sam Wolfe / Reuters / Redux In some other political reality, this Saturday’s South Carolina Republican primary would be where Nikki Haley, buoyed by her home-state appeal, would ignite her Presidential campaign against Donald Trump.  Unfortunately for Haley, this current reality has her behind by more than thirty points in the polls, and with the entire political establishment of the state lined up against her.  Antonia Hitchens joined Haley as she campaigned across the state, and met the kinds of Trump-averse voters who might have sparked a challenge to the former President.  “It’s all a sea of bullshit,” one man says. “Most people are still cleaving to Trump like Tiberian bats in a cave. I’d rather vote for Genghis Khan than Donald Trump. I’m a moderate person.”  Such sentiments, while memorable, are nonetheless rare—and Haley’s own political history in the state left her with more enemies than friends. Read the story Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today »