Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley hasn’t exactly endeared herself to Black Americans or other marginalized groups over the last few months. But it rapidly became apparent that that was the coalition she needed to win South Carolina and give her any shot of beating former President Donald Trump
As expected Trump beat Haley in a landslide — picking up roughly 60 percent of the vote. (Although she did somewhat better than previous polling might have suggested). The overwhelming majority of voters in the primary were white Republicans, according CBS News’ exit polls, a group of voters
As many other outlets noted, Haley needed at least some Democratic crossover — which in South Carolina means Haley needed some level of support from Black voters.
There was just one tiny problem. Haley has spent months alienating Black people.
The former United Nations Ambassador has made erasing the United State’s history of racism a key campaign plank — repeatedly stating that America was “never a racist country.”
What’s more, she famously flubbed a question about the Civil War by omitting slavery as a central cause of the war. She then attempted to fix the problem by discussing her childhood Black friends, who simultaneously educated her about racism without somehow ever experiencing it themselves. (Remember: America isn’t a racist country).
None of that even touches on her Breakfast Club appearance, where, among other things, she downplayed the role of racism in the white supremacist shooting at Mother Emanuel and said Barack Obama is the reason we have racial divisions in this country.
It’s not clear if Haley will attempt to moderate on race, as she works to appeal to a group of voters who might not trust her — but likely hate Trump even more.