Posted on 11/12/2019 4:28:36 AM PST by EyesOfTX
When Nikki Haley speaks, people listen. When people start surveying the GOP landscape post-Trump, whether that comes in January after being removed from the the presidency by the Senate (which is not likely to happen), in January 2021 after a loss in the 2020 election (also not in the cards) or in January 2025 following the completion of his second term in office (bingo!), the survey inevitably lands to the name of Nikki Haley as one of his most likely successors.
Other names also arise, of course: Names like Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo and Ted Cruz, and the less obvious names like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan and even Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw. Lindsey Graham, with his thrice-weekly appearances on one Fox News evening program or another, is obviously angling for another run at the gig, as are Rand Paul and even Kanye West. But inevitably, the name of Nikki Haley always comes up.
She is, after all, a former successful governor of South Carolina, and a person who, after not really being on board with the Trump Train during the 2016 campaign, created a very high profile for herself as Trumps very loyal, very aggressive and very outspoken UN Ambassador. Although her record as Governor was decidedly mixed from a conservative perspective, perhaps more than any of Trumps cabinet-level officials, Haley has stood out as the most aggressive advocate for his international policies.
Thus it is that anything she has to say about the goings-on inside White House during her two-year tenure is given a lot of weight by most Trump supporters. In a Sunday interview with Kelly ODonnell of CBS, Haley basically accused both then-Chief of Staff John Kelly and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson of rank insubordination, even though she said they claimed that was not their intent.
Heres the key outtake:
Haley recounts a closed-door encounter with then-White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: Kelly and Tillerson confided in me that when they resisted the president, they werent being insubordinate, they were trying to save the country Tillerson went on to tell me the reason he resisted the presidents decisions was because, if he didnt, people would die. This was how high the stakes were, he and Kelly told me. We are doing the best we can do to save the country, they said. We need you to work with us and help us do it. This went on for over an hour.
ODonnell asked, You memorialized that conversation? It definitely happened?
It absolutely happened, said Haley. And instead of saying that to me, they shouldve been saying that to the president, not asking me to join them on their sidebar plan. It shouldve been, Go tell the president what your differences are, and quit if you dont like what hes doing. But to undermine a president is really a very dangerous thing. And it goes against the Constitution, and it goes against what the American people want. And it was offensive.
[We asked them to respond. John Kelly tells Sunday Morning: If by resistance and stalling she means putting a staff process in place to ensure the (president) knew all the pros and cons of what policy decision he might be contemplating so he could make an informed decision, then guilty as charged.]
Undermining a president from the inside is indeed a very dangerous thing, as Haley notes, and her accusation against Kelly and Tillerson rings true given everything else we know about the two men and their behavior while serving in those positions. Tillerson repeatedly made his personal disdain for the President and his lack of support for Trump policies related to North Korea, China and other parts of the world very clear while serving as SOS, which is the main reason why his tenure in the office was so short. Kellys first move after moving into his Chief of Staff role was not to go after the myriad leakers inside the White House, but rather to cut the President off from his most loyal supporters and start to systematically force them out of their jobs.
Rumors have run rampant for more than two years now that both men were willing participants in the mid-2017 plot to dummy up a rationale for removing Trump from office under the 25th Amendment, a plot we know beyond any reasonable doubt that Rod Rosenstein was a part of. If you believe in the whole where theres smoke theres fire paradigm, it seems extremely likely that those persistent rumors must have some basis in reality.
If Haleys contention about the approach by Tillerson and Kelly is accurate and there is little reason to believe that it is not then it would be consistent with a move that would be made as a part of a larger 25th amendment effort targeting the President. Haleys contention here, and cryptic use of the term sidebar plan, is troubling in the extreme, and Tillersons refusal to even respond to it does not reflect well on him. Kellys response, which does not in any way address the accusation, may be even worse.
As mentioned earlier, Haleys interview promoting her new book is also a not-so-subtle attempt to keep herself in the public eye, ready to quickly move in the unlikely event of Trumps actual removal by the Senate. The following passage reveals that part of her personal agenda:
Haley insists she has no immediate plans to run for any office, including the presidency, and as she departed the Trump administration last year she said, I can promise you what Ill be doing is campaigning for this one.
She told ODonnell, A year is a long time in politics. It really is a lifetime in politics. And so, I think whats best for me is take it a year at a time and see what happens.
With her new book, lucrative speaking engagements, and a seat on the corporate board of Boeing, Nikki Haley acknowledges there are still chapters to be written: Im too young to stop fighting. Ill always be out there. Ill always use the power of my voice for what I believe is good.
So, whether the jumping off point becomes early 2020, early 2021 or the 2024 election campaign, you can be sure that Nikki Haley will be vying to become the face of the GOP in the wake of the Trump presidency. Lining herself up as this Presidents most loyal and vocal supporter helps her cause immensely.
That is all.
No because the 25th amendment was discussed by Democrats before Trump was even sworn in. The Democrats floated the same notion against Reagan before he was sworn in.
“It absolutely happened, said Haley. And instead of saying that to me, they shouldve been saying that to the president, not asking me to join them on their sidebar plan. It shouldve been, Go tell the president what your differences are, and quit if you dont like what hes doing. But to undermine a president is really a very dangerous thing. And it goes against the Constitution, and it goes against what the American people want. And it was offensive. “
And yet she never took it to the President - she wants to look good and pious by saying they were bad and she still didn’t take any action...against the bad men....
Any 25th Amendment push must by necessity be led by Cabinet officials. The Ds can talk all they want, but it takes cooperation by cabinet officials to get it done.
It isn’t that simple. Trump knew that people are after him. What good does it do for Haley to step on national TV and start dropping names?
And yet she never took it to the President - she wants to look good and pious by saying they were bad and she still didnt take any action...against the bad men....
She was on Hannity last night and said she did tell the President.
Haley was no Jeanne Kirkpatrick. She would just be another typical RINO (ala the Bush’s) if she ran...
“When Nikki Haley speaks, people listen.”
No, that is just the assigned sentiment, nay duty, we are all supposed to agree with.
I will never, ever, understand the appeal she is supposed to be endowed with, an original never-Trumper.
The Constitution requires that a potential president must be a natural born citizen. The Naturalization Act of 1790 directly defines what that means — born of citizen parents. Nikki Haley was definitely not born of citizen parents.
She knows she was not born of citizen parents, and is therefore ineligible to ever be president, but makes out that she stands ready to rigorously enforce the Constitution, as if no contradiction exists.
And if she were a natural born citizen, she would still be just as repulsive a candidate.
“Kellys first move after moving into his Chief of Staff role was not to go after the myriad leakers inside the White House, but rather to cut the President off from his most loyal supporters and start to systematically force them out of their jobs.”
Kelley was the Oval Office gatekeeper. According to Halley’s book, Kelley denied her requests to meet with the POTUS. Nevertheless, if she really wanted to report the coup to Trump, she could have contacted Donald Trump Jr. or Rudy. Then again, maybe she did, and perhaps that’s why Trump got rid of Kelley and Tillison.
Or perhaps the author of the anonymous author of the piece claiming to be part of an active resistance within the White House.
She was on Hannity last night and said she did tell the President.
Yep. She had to do that after Bret Baier and his worthless panel claimed she hadn’t done that, despite the fact that she had made that clear in a tweet two full hours before those nitwits went on-air.
SHE DID TELL THE PRESIDENT.
A plain reading of the 25th Amendment shows that a President will never be removed AGAINST HIS WILL under this process.
Indian Haley and Cuban-Canadian Lyn’ Ted still getting dreamed about? Ain’t happening in 2025 or any other time.
Anyone who led the 25th Amendment push would have to be a moron, for starters.
A plain reading of the 25th Amendment shows that a President will never be removed AGAINST HIS WILL under this process.
I agree. And yet, there is no reasonable doubt at all that the push did happen, and included not just cabinet officials but high officials at DOJ.
The problem with Trump is the same as was with Reagan. Who is out there that can follow his lead come 2024?
Last night during an interview on Fox News, Haley said she did tell the President.
Who knows if she took it to the president. She very well may have. Both men were pushed out.
That’s what enemies do.
When you get ####ed by your own is when you’re in a lot of trouble.
And YES, I DO believe the story that sessions was all for this.
I don’t know why some people are so stubborn about that POS
Dam Rather has fallen in disgrace.
So has Matt Lauer.
Oust the crooked “journo-listas”.
Won’t move this country forward without ousting the crooked cabal that shielded a child sex trafficker to world figures like the Royals and Clintons.
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