Nikki Haley has already exemplified the term “two-faced,” but she gave it new, more sinister meaning with the launch of her campaign.
It began with an invocation from Pastor John Hagee. He’s a hate-mongering extremist and a crackpot. As Crooks and Liars has reported in 2013, he told atheists who don’t like Christmas to "leave the country" or "take your Walkman and stuff it into your ears." In 2014, he predicted the world would end by 2015. Less amusing are his beliefs about Jews, gays and COVID. He has called Hitler a “half-breed Jew,” blamed Catholics for the Holocaust and claimed that the Antichrist is gay, e.g.
As The Recount noted, 2008 presidential candidate John McCain "initially advertised Hagee’s endorsement before rejecting it after Hagee’s attacks on the Catholic Church and comments saying the Holocaust was part of God’s plan came to light."
But here’s Hagee opening Haley’s first campaign event with a prayer:
Haley didn’t just thank Hagee, she endorsed him. “To Pastor Hagee, I still say I want to be you when I grow up,” she said.
“One clear theme of Nikki Haley's presidential announcement is unity. Over and over, her Tuesday announcement video references bringing people together,” NPR reported. But her embrace of Hagee tells you she’s saving a seat of honor for white-nationalist divisiveness at her table.
There’s every reason to believe she’ll be just as duplicitous the rest of her political life.
