The liberal media is known to suddenly shower praise on a formerly reviled Republican who turns against the party's leaders. So you might have expected CNN's John Berman to heap hosannas on Trump's former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley this morning.
After all, Politico published an article today in which Haley—also the former Republican governor of South Carolina and a potential 2024 presidential contender — offered pointed criticism of Trump.
She accused him, among other things, of having "let us down" and of going "down a path he shouldn't have." Instead, Berman touted it as "a potentially major story" and she said "some remarkable things," but ultimately it was no "Profile in Courage moment."
BERMAN: Let me just read some of the quotes here from Nikki Haley [emphasis added]: "He's not going to run for federal office again. I don't think he's going to be in the picture, she said, matter-of-factly. I don't think he can. He's fallen too far." And this is the kicker. "We need to acknowledge he let us down. He went down a path he shouldn't have. And we shouldn't have followed him. And we shouldn't have listened to him. We can't let that ever happen again."
Now, I do not think this is interesting as a Profiles in Courage moment, Ross Garber, I do think it's interesting in a—Nikki Haley, if anything, is a weathervane. I mean, she twists with the political winds to a certain extent her. And she sees the political wind blowing against the former President of the United States.
So there may be a verdict in the U.S. Senate, but Nikki Haley is giving something of a different verdict here. And that may be what the House managers, that might be what people looking to make an historical record here have been going for all along.
So why was Berman unwilling to show some Sudden Respect for Haley, even when her criticism of President Trump was surely music to his liberal ears? Instead, he was aping Alberta, that "Everything Haley says is being scrutinized by those who have come to question her authenticity."
Reporters can always question the authenticity of politicians who are jostling to be president. But Tim Alberta started at National Review, so does he have core convictions? John Berman works for CNN, where everyone now ends up sounding like a editorializing echo of the boss, Jeff Zucker.
Perhaps Berman is just looking to undermine anyone CNN sees as a potential 2024 GOP challenger to President Biden -- or shall we say, Harris?
CNN's Berman claiming that Nikki Haley did not deserve a Profile in Courage for her criticism of President Trump was sponsored in part by Sleep Number, Clear Choice, Liberty Mutual, Chewy, and Sandals.
