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Karen Erickson: Can you guess what happened to Nikki Haley?

Karen Erickson: Can you guess what happened to Nikki Haley?

Pardon the joke: You can probably guess if you follow American politics and see how Donald Trump is tightening his iron grip on the American right. Among Republicans, there is no longer room to criticize the former president and current presidential candidate.

A year and a half ago, I watched Nikki Haley get booed by Trump supporters during a visit to the conservative CPAC conference. It’s hard to forget her haunted expression as she ran to the elevator.

She didn't allow herself to break, but She continued her campaign against Trump, trying to convince fellow Republicans to try another candidate in the 2024 presidential election, calling her a “bird brain” and attacking her family.

During the campaign, she aligned Trump with President Joe Biden, describing both as “angry old men.” She questioned the former president’s cognitive ability. She refused to accept lies about a stolen election and called Trump a loser.

But she won only two primaries and only 97 delegates, compared to Trump's nearly 97 in 2000.

And on Wednesday night I went up On stage in Milwaukee.

It was the first, and perhaps only, truly tense moment of the 2024 Republican convention. Some delegates applauded cautiously, some booed, and others remained silent as she entered. Donald Trump, seated in the VIP dais, focused on facial expressions.

Then Nikki Haley showed that she is no Mitt Romney or Liz Cheney or even Mike Pence. She will not be part of the rapidly shrinking ranks of traditional Republicans who are distancing themselves from Trumpism.

Onstage in Milwaukee, she said Trump had her strong support. She urged undecided Republicans to do the same, emphasizing that you don’t have to agree with everything to vote for the former president. She repeated her old slogan from the primaries that a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris. She smiled a little smugly and added that everyone understood what she meant after the presidential debate.

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She didn't have to convince the members. In the convention hall. But she could influence some television viewers who are hesitating between two unpopular presidential candidates.

Her shift could be interpreted as a sign of the times. Republicans are increasingly certain of victory before November. Nikki Haley is likely assessing that the odds of Trump losing are shrinking and that she needs to say “what I said.”

I started a penance for her. What do we call it? Career planning.