What’s going on with Nikki Haley?
She botched a question that should have been easy in a recent interview with NBC News correspondent Dasha Burst and Brianne Punnenstiel of the Des Moines Register.
What would happen to Hunter Biden, the president’s son, if he was convicted? Dasha Burns asked, “Would you pardon him?”
“I don’t even want to think about it.” Haley responded, “I don’t know what they have found him guilty of yet.”
It was a dumb question, but the answer should have been an unequivocal, simple “no.” Haley’s response was absurdly ambiguous for some reason.
She continued, trying to improve the situation: “I’m sure that, you know, we’ve seen, in the Department of Justice, they don’t treat everyone fairly. Look at the treatment of the Clintons and Bidens. It’s quite different from the treatment of the Trumps. Everyone should be treated equally. You should be punished for committing a crime. Period. Transparency is important, everyone should be able to see what’s going on. We need to make sure the taxpayers are aware of all that is going on. This is what it’s all about. Treat everyone the same, no matter who they are or what their party is. “That’s the direction we should take.”
It would have been better to answer this question on its own.
Then she ruined everything.
BREAKING: Nikki Haley reveals she’s open to pardoning Hunter Biden.
“Let’s wait and see what the charges are.” pic.twitter.com/r7UIf0R01V
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) January 5, 2024
I won’t get into whether Hunter Biden was pardoned or not. She continued, “Let’s wait to see what the charges will be.” But at this stage, you need to look at each case individually. I don’t believe it’s right to just say that you wouldn’t do that to someone’s child when you don’t have all the facts.
We’ll wait to see the charges. We already know the charges. Hunter Biden almost got away with his crimes. Why would anyone, especially a Republican leave the possibility open that Hunter Biden could be eligible for a pardon? Joe Biden says he won’t pardon Hunter Biden. Nobody believes him, but he did say it. Whistleblowers have told us that the Justice Department protected him for many years. We can’t say his prosecution was the result of abuse by the department that requires a pardon.
Now, let’s compare Haley’s response to that of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was asked the same stupid question:
“But what about Hunter Biden — would you pardon him?” Dasha Burns.
“Why? “No,” he replied, utterly baffled by the question.
“I’m talking about the spirit of healing this country and moving forward.”
Reporter: “What about Hunter Biden — would you pardon him?”
DeSantis, in shock at the stupidity of the question: “Why? No.” pic.twitter.com/nybt5kJAuR
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) January 5, 2024
DeSantis clarified, “These are not the exact same things.” “You’ve got a current government that is prosecuting a former president.” “This is not the same as Hunter Biden’s trial, he wasn’t a leader of an opposing party.” “It is not good for the country that we are doing this.”
Burns retorted, “Neither is the division as you said.”
“Well, Hunter Biden does not create division. Hunter Biden would have been prosecuted long ago if he was not connected to the DC ruling classes. “But those aren’t equivalent to like Ford and Nixon and then some of the things we’re witnessing with Donald Trump.”
See? It’s a great answer. DeSantis immediately recognized that the question was dumb, and treated it accordingly. He also disputed its premise.
