IOWA CITY — Nikki Haley blew an easy layup Saturday with Iowa voters.
The 2024 Republican presidential candidate and former United Nations ambassador flubbed the name of Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark during a campaign event in Coralville.
Haley, who attended Saturday’s game in Iowa City — sitting courtside with her son, Nalin, who sported an Iowa Hawkeyes shirt — seemingly mixed up Clark’s name with that of CNN news anchor Kaitlan Collins as she addressed a crowd of about 100 supporters and undecided Iowa caucusgoers before the tipoff.
Both are household names. One is a record-breaking college women’s basketball icon with a top-five ranking, 12-1 record and nation-leading 30.5 points per game average. The other grills presidential hopefuls on live TV.
Calling herself a “basketball mom,” Haley told a small crowd at the Iowa Athletic Club sports bar and restaurant that she was “super excited to see the Lady Hawkeyes.”
“What a team they are,” Haley said. “What a great coach they have. Caitlin Collins is phenomenal.”
Haley also greeted and chatted with Republican former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who attended Saturday’s game and served with Haley in the Trump administration as U.S. ambassador to China. During half-time, Haley walked through the stands — shaking hands, hugging, high-fiving and posing for selfies with Hawkeye fans.
Haley walks back Civil War remarks
The flub comes on the heels of Haley facing backlash over a gaffe where she did not cite slavery as a cause of the American Civil War when asked at a campaign event Wednesday in New Hampshire.
Haley, who did not take questions from reporters Saturday, addressed the Civil War comment Thursday in New Hampshire saying: “Of course the Civil War was about slavery.
“We know that. That’s unquestioned, always the case,” Haley said in Conway, N.H.
“But it was also more than that. It was about the freedoms of every individual. It was about the role of government,” Haley continued. “For 80 years, America had the decision and the moral question of whether slavery was a good thing and whether government, economically, culturally, any other reasons, had a role to play in that. By the grace of God, we did the right thing and slavery is no more. But the lessons of what that bigger issue with the Civil War are is that let’s not forget what came out of that.”
Speaking at a New Hampshire town hall Thursday evening, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — also a GOP candidate for president — criticized Haley for not mentioning slavery in her initial answer.
“She did it because she’s unwilling to offend anyone by telling the truth,” Christie said.
Another Republican rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, also ramped up pressure on Haley during an appearance Friday on Fox News.
“It was an incomprehensible word salad,” DeSantis said. “… When she gets off her talking points, I think she has a much more difficult task at that point.”
DeSantis has faced his own scrutiny over changes to the teaching of slavery in Florida schools. The Florida governor has defended his state’s new African American history standards that enslaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit,” and insisting that critics were intentionally misinterpreting one line of the sweeping curriculum.
Friday, the Democratic National Committee launched a slate of four billboards in Iowa over the next two days to greet Haley at her events and call out her, DeSantis and other GOP presidential hopefuls for downplaying the nation’s sordid racial history and portraying structural racism as challenges of the past.
It remains to be seen how much Haley’s gaffe will matter in the Republican primary race, where former President Donald Trump has been ramping up own divisive rhetoric. But it could risk eroding Haley’s efforts to pull support from independents and moderate Democrats and Republicans, and blunt her momentum when she’s edging within striking distance of Trump in New Hampshire and has pulled even with DeSantis for a distant second place in Iowa.
Haley touts foreign policy expertise
In Coralville, Haley stuck to her stump speech, touting her foreign policy experience and two-year tenure as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and her plans to tame inflation, decrease federal spending, reduce the federal deficit and bolster border security.
She said Republicans need “new generational leaders that leaves the negativity and the baggage behind and focused on the solutions of the future.”
“I think President Trump was the right president at the right time,“ Haley said. ”I agree with a lot of his policies. But, rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him. … And we can’t be a country in disarray and have a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. “
On inflation and the economy, Haley called out both Democrats and Republicans for “reckless” spending that fueled inflation and created $34 trillion in federal debt. Haley said she would cut taxes for the middle class and make the small business tax cuts passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump in 2017 permanent.
She said she would also claw back billions in unspent COVID-19 relief money, veto any spending bill that does not bring federal spending back to pre-pandemic levels and “take as many federal government programs as we can and send it down to the states” to reduce the size o the federal government.
On the border, Haley said she would defund “sanctuary cities,” hire 25,000 more Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and return to the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy that forces asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are pending. Haley went on to say she would replace “catch-and-release” with “catch-and-deport,” and enact a E-Verify program that requires employers “to confirm the people they hire are in this country legally.”
On foreign policy, Haley said the United States needs to give Ukraine the equipment and supplies it needs to defeat Russia invaders. “Russia said once they take Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next. Those are NATO countries and that puts America at war. This is about preventing war,” she said in Coralville.
Haley the United States also needs to back Israel in its war against Hamas, calling Israel “a bright spot in a tough neighborhood” and the United State’s first line of defense from Iran.
On energy security, Haley said: “We need to turn our energy sector into an economic powerhouse. That means getting the (Environmental Protection Agency) out of the way … open up the Keystone pipeline, and we need to expand biofuels” — including supporting Renewable Fuel Standard.
Voters respond
Aaron Schultz, 21, of North Liberty, will caucus for the first time on Jan. 15 in the first leadoff GOP presidential nominating state.
Schultz, who stopped in Coralville to hear from Haley for the first time, said he’s undecided but is looking for an alternative to Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden.
He said securing the Southern border, bringing down inflation and interest rates and foreign policy are his top concerns. He said he’s also looking for a candidate who can “unify the country.”
“I supported what Trump did” during his first term, “but I’m turned off by his personality,” Schultz said. “I feel both Trump and Biden have further divided the country.”
Asked about her comments on the Civil War, Schultz said he believes Haley “sometimes plays both sides of an issue.”
March Sutton, 46, of Solon, said she is also is looking for an alternative to Trump. She saw DeSantis speak at a campaign event in Marion earlier in the week and stopped Saturday in Coralville.
“I really would like to get behind a candidate that has momentum going forward,” Sutton said. “I think Nikki Haley had the momentum. I’m not quite sure if that dropped off in the past few days.”
Asked of Haley’s comments about slavery the Civil War, Sutton chalked it up to the pressure and grind of the campaign trail. “I think there’s an element of understanding there regarding the question, but wanting to see how she moves forward from,” Sutton said.
Sutton said she feels both Haley and DeSantis have a better shot at winning the general election.
Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com
You must be logged in to post a comment Login