The good Jake Tapper made an appearance Tuesday in the second hour of CNN’s The Lead as he did a segment with his panel calling out New York Times opinion writer and MSNBC guest Wajahat Ali for his racist and sexist smear Sunday of 2024 GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley as “us[ing] her brown skin to launder white supremacist talking points.” At one point, Tapper said it was a reminder “there is a very ugly sign of the left that comes out when Nikki Haley runs for office.”
Tapper pivoted from the umpteenth January 6 discussion to Ali’s comments, including the clip in question of Ali stating the following: “She uses her brown skin as a weapon against poor black folks and poor brown folks, and she uses her brown skin to launder white supremacist talking points. And the reason why I feel sad is because no matter what she does, Medhi, it’ll never be enough. They’ll never love her.”
Tapper then went to National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru: “Immediately, obviously, Haley has jumped on this as, look, liberals are attacking me again. What do you make of this?”
Ponnuru, who’s not a fan of Haley, offered the bare minimum by saying Ali’s comments were “a gift to Haley’s nascent campaign for her to be able to jump on these dumb, you know, remarks by a pundit that just play into her hands and say, look, they’re going after me based on my race” who “can’t handle” her.
Incredibly, liberal CNN political commentator Paul Begala offered a more robust defense:
I think the fact that she got to be the governor of South Carolina with brown skin is a very impressive accomplishment, and I don’t think it’s something people ought to be attacking or ridiculing her about. Let’s just take her based on her ideas. And I might not like them as a Democrat, Republicans might, but I think it’s a terrible thing to say about her.
Tapper pivoted to another racist attack on Haley regarding the fact that she goes by her middle name and how “these are the same people who objected to whenever Republicans would say Barack Hussein Obama.”
“I mean, there is a very ugly sign of the left that comes out when Nikki Haley runs for office,” he added.
CNN’s Alayna Treene replied that Haley’s campaign “has thought a lot about” and “expected some of these attacks” and, in turn, Haley has “leaned in to some of...the messaging” as they’ve resulted in “an extra news cycle”.
“I actually think they’ve tried to, you know, play it smart...and turn them into something that they can use to further boost her,” she added, which led Tapper to chime in that such smears are “in-kind contributions”.
The segment wrapped with Haley’s call for competency tests and how, while President in July 2020, Donald Trump had touted how he supposedly did on a test.
Politico’s Heidi Przybyla reacted to the clip by saying “Democrats would be all in if Trump wanted to agree to a mental competency test if he becomes the nominee” and, on Haley’s proposal, it was proof “she’s not afraid to make age an issue.”
“It’s been a pretty good week for her, I have to say, in terms of the attacks on her and also in terms of, like, she’s been in the press a lot. Maybe next time for her policies, perhaps,” concluded Tapper.
To see the relevant transcript from February 22, click “expand.’
CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper
February 22, 2023
5:33 p.m. EasternJAKE TAPPER: So, anyway, I want to ask about something else. New York Times opinion writer Wajahat Ali made some very critical comments yesterday, I think, about — or maybe it was Sunday, about Governor Nikki Haley, who’s now running for president. Take a look.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Campaign 2024; Commentator: Nikki Halley Uses “Brown Skin to Launder” White Supremacy]
WAJAHAT ALI [on MSNBC’s The Mehdi Hassan Show, 02/18/23]: She uses her brown skin as a weapon against poor black folks and poor brown folks, and she uses her brown skin to launder white supremacist talking points. And the reason why I feel sad is because no matter what she does, Medii, it’ll never be enough. They’ll never love her.
TAPPER: “They’ll never love her.” Immediately, obviously, Haley has jumped on this as, look, liberals are attacking me again. What do you make of this?
RAMESH PONNURU: Yeah, I think that it’s a gift to Haley’s nascent campaign for her to be able to jump on these dumb, you know, remarks by a pundit that just play into her hands and say, look, they’re going after me based on my race. They can’t handle my ideas. They can’t handle the fact that I’m a skilled politician.
PAUL BEGALA: I’m with Ramesh. Yeah. I think the fact that she got to be the governor of South Carolina with brown skin is a very impressive accomplishment, and I don’t think it’s something people ought to be attacking or ridiculing her about. Let’s just take her based on her ideas. And I might not like them as a Democrat, Republicans might, but I think it’s a terrible thing to say about her.
TAPPER: One of the things that’s odd also is you see — I don’t want to make too big a deal out of it, but you see, some people on the left noting that Nikki is not her original first name. I think it’s her middle name.
PONNURU: Right.
TAPPER: And, like, basically suggesting that she — I mean, it’s not true. And these are the same people who objected to whenever Republicans would say Barack Hussein Obama. I mean, there is a very ugly sign of the left that comes out when Nikki Haley runs for office.
ALAYNA TREENE: No, I think that’s true, and I also think that this is something that I know her campaign has thought a lot about. As you’re launching a presidential campaign, they’ve expected some of these attacks. But I will say, overall, she’s leaned in to some of what has some of the messaging that has been surrounding her in the past week since announcing that she was running for president. And really, it’s an extra media cycle, news cycle, over and over again where she can seize on, look at what the left’s doing, look at what liberals are trying to make me out to be and — and use it to her advantage. And I actually think they’ve tried to, you know, play it smart with some of these attacks and turn them into something that they can use to further boost her among the right and with her base.
TAPPER: In kind contributions for the Haley campaign. One last thing, Heidi, Donald Trump is joining Nikki Haley in saying there should be mental competency tests, not just for candidates, politicians who — over 75, but everyone. And I just wanted to remind people that he talked about a mental competency test back in 2020.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Campaign 2024; Trump Embraces Nikki Haley’s Call for “Mental Competency Tests”]
DONALD TRUMP [on 07/22/20]: You go, person, woman, man, camera TV. They say, that’s amazing. How did you do that? They do it because I have, like, a good memory, because I’m cognitively there.
HEIDI PRZYBYLA: So, Paul, back me up here, but I think that Democrats would be all in if Trump wanted to agree to a mental competency test if he becomes the nominee. But look, I don’t think that — I think what Nikki Haley is doing here is she’s showing that she’s not afraid to make age an issue. I don’t know that that’s going to be a big issue, but she’s showing that she’s not afraid to take them on because it’s pretty clear that she’s referring to both Trump and Biden here.
TAPPER: It’s been a pretty good week for her, I have to say, in terms of the attacks on her and also in terms of, like, she’s been in the press a lot. Maybe next time for her policies, perhaps.
