Washington: Nikki Haley has turned out to be the right bet to become the first female president of America. The former ambassador to the UN has been viewed as Donald Trump's heir apparently by many. With the launch of her book, 'With All Due Respect', Haley has shrewdly demonstrated both her loyalty to and independence from the president, as well as embodying her motto: "Kick'em with a smile."
The book took no time to hit the headlines, because Haley used to publicly knife two of her most prominent ex-colleagues in a quite remarkable revelation. While she was working in the administration, Haley divulged, the then secretary of state Rex Tillerson and the chief of staff John Kelly tried to recruit her into a resistance movement who wanted her aid in thwarting Trump. “Kelly and Tillerson confided in me that when they resisted the president, they weren’t being insubordinate, they were trying to save the country,” Haley writes. The former governor of South Carolina says she was disturbed by the revelations and opted not to join the gang. “It was their decisions, not the president’s, that were in the best interests of America, they said. The president didn’t know what he was doing.”
Tillerson denied the claim, while Kelly gave more cryptic response about ensuring the president made "informed decisions". Haley also elicited the most meaningful praise imaginable from Trump, "Make sure you order your copy today," he said. Its a far cry from 2016, when Haley was endorsing Trump's rivals and warning the Republicans about the dangers of his candidacy for president. "During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation," she said in January 2016. Trump hit back on Twitter, "The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley!"
On paper Haley has it all. Bright, tough, attractive, Indian-American, female, Southeren, Conservative, friendly with Trump but not in his pocket, she potentially solves a lot of problems Republicans have with suburban women and the spectre of racial animus. Some pundits have even speculated that Trump might give Mike Pence the boot and pick her as his running mate for 2020, a discussion that has sparked a tense rivalry between Haley and the Pence camp.
Matt Moore has known Haley 15 years and was chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party while she was governor said, "She has a soft touch, but she can also kick butt and take names," Haley was born to Sikh parents in tiny Bamberg, South Carolina. She still acts as a carer for her parents and has emphasised her family credentials during her political ascendancy. She’s often spoken about how traumatic it was to be governor of South Carolina during the Charleston church shooting of 2015 when a white nationalist killed nine African Americans.
What Haley really offers, to many Republicans, is a vision of a brighter, less divisive future; one that acknowledges Trumpism but is not beholden to it. Rather, she’s carved out a position where she’ll make muted criticisms of specific Trump actions but balance them with vocal public support
for the president.
