OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson criticized 2024 GOP candidate Nikki Haley for her strong stances on the war and labeled her as a “puppet” of the Washington political establishment.
Carlson blasted Haley in an interview with Ramaswamy that was published on X (formerly Twitter), accusing her of being just like Democratic donors. Carlson singled out Haley’s steadfast support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia and Israel in its conflict with Hamas (the U.S.-designated terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip).
“If you’re a Democratic mega-donor, this is a very tough moment for you. Your candidate is going to lose,” Carlson said, referring to President Joe Biden’s poor polling performance in recent months.
“So what do you do? Well, if you’re smart, maybe you subvert the other party. Maybe you back a Republican candidate who’s a Democrat and whose priorities are identical to yours. And of course, they found one: Her name is Nikki Haley,” Carlson said, pointing to her purported support for “endless neocon wars.”
“Strip away all the outward characteristics, and Nikki Haley is identical in her priorities to Joe Biden and the people who back Joe Biden,” he added.
Although Carlson insisted that the support Haley was receiving was primarily Democratic, Ramaswamy argued that it was bipartisan and included Republicans from the Bush-Cheney era. This led Ramaswamy to back Carlson’s conclusion.
According to Ramaswamy, those individuals were trying to depose Trump by manipulating Haley.
“I think the true puppet masters, the thing about them, is they’re fundamentally nonpartisan in nature,” Ramaswamy said. “There are a few things they care about: Keeping the foreign war machine humming is high on the list. Keeping the administrative state’s control of the United States is also high on the list. They found a much more convenient puppet within the Republican Party itself.”
“It’s not Biden, and it’s not even Gavin Newsom. It’s Nikki Haley within the Republican Party itself,” he continued. “And I think that that makes for a very convenient frontman because then they have absolved themselves from any allegations of partisanship or Democratic partisanship against Donald Trump.”
In late December, Carlson sounded the alarm over reports speculating that Trump may consider Haley to be his possible running mate.
According to sources who spoke to CBS News, Trump “has been asking allies and advisers for their thoughts about Nikki Haley as a potential vice presidential candidate.” Haley, who served as governor of South Carolina and as his UN ambassador, was the first to declare her candidacy for the GOP nomination after Trump had made his intentions to do so very clear for months.
“The feedback from the MAGA crowd regarding putting Haley on the ticket if Trump wins the GOP nomination has been overwhelmingly negative, according to these GOP sources. Politico first reported that Trump allies are working to quash the possibility of a Trump-Haley ticket,” CBS reported.
During a live discussion hosted by “Timcast” podcaster Tim Pool at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, the host asked Carlson, “Would you vote for Trump if he chose Nikki as VP?”
Carlson responded: “I would not only not vote for that ticket, I would advocate against it as strongly as I could.”
“That’s just poison. I mean, here’s someone who’s actively opposed to the interests of the country I grew up in, who endorsed the BLM riots, and who is not left but is neoliberal in the darkest, most – speaking of nihilist – nihilistic way, and has no real popular support, is a creature of the oligarchs,” he continued. “So yeah, that would be– that would be a reason to oppose the ticket.
WATCH:
Tucker says he would 'advocate against' Trump election if he picks Haley has his running mate. pic.twitter.com/u2EVgmHXb3
— USA Features Media (@UsaFeatures) December 19, 2023
Earlier in December, Carlson responded to rumors that Trump was considering him to be his 2024 running mate.
“Well, it’s just– it’s just so unimaginable,” Carlson told SiriusXM and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly. “I mean, I haven’t led a life that prepares a person for politics. As I said, I don’t think I have any horrible skeletons or anything. It’s not that, it’s just that that’s not how my brain works. I’ve never done anything like that. I can’t imagine spending time with politicians.”
He continued: “I’m a total sucker for Trump. I think he’s – you know, personally, I get along with Trump well. The closer I am physically to Trump, like if I’m with him in the room, I always love Trump and I think it’s impossible not to, and you know the experience. He’s just charming.”
“Yeah,” replied Kelly.
“And he’s funny as hell, and he’s brave in his way, I think. So I really appreciate that, and I agree fundamentally with his views,” Carlson continued. “You know, maybe fewer wars, have a border, like those are not crazy things, and I support them, and I’m appalled and terrified by the use of the DOJ to rig an election, which is what’s happening now, so all those factors make me kind of psyched to vote for Trump.
“But serving in politics with anybody, I mean, that’s just– that’s a– it’s a lot for me to think about because I just don’t think I’m suited for that. Would anyone want to see a guy like me run for office?” Carlson asked.
“Yes!” Kelly exclaimed before concluding, “You’re not gonna end your life without having been probably president, maybe vice president.”
