Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is blaming the “liberal media” for trying to “stoke a nonstop Republican civil war” after coming under fire for criticizing former President Trump over the Jan. 6 rampage at the U.S. Capitol.
“The media playbook starts with the demand that everyone pick sides about Donald Trump—either love or hate everything about him,” Mrs. Haley said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. “The moment anyone on the right offers the slightest criticism of the 45th president, the media goes berserk: Republicans are trying to have it both ways!”
“It’s a calculated strategy to pit conservatives against one another. It’s also a ridiculous false choice,” the former South Carolina governor said. “Real life is never that simple. Someone can do both good and bad things.”
Mrs. Haley is expected to run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
She has come under fire since predicting in a recent Politico report that Mr. Trump is “going to find himself further and further isolated” after a pro-Trump mob stormed Congress.
Her op-ed in The Wall Street Journal also after Mr. Trump this week blasted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling him a “dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack,” saying Republicans cannot win with him leading the party.
Mr. McConnell, Kentucky Republican, had inked an op-ed in which he said he voted to acquit Mr. Trump in his second impeachment trial for constitutional reasons, but said the former president still bears “moral responsibility” for the attack on the Capitol.
Mrs. Haley also complained about Mr. Trump’s behavior in the Politico report, saying he has “lost any sort of political viability he was going to have.”
“I think he’s lost his social media, which meant the world to him,” she said. “I mean, I think he’s lost the things that really could have kept him moving.”
Mrs. Haley said she was shocked Mr. Trump was so willing to throw former Vice President Mike Pence under the bus as the events played out.
“He’s not going to run for federal office again,” she said of Mr. Trump.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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