Allegations that former Gov. Nikki Haley engaged in extramarital affairs resurfaced this week as the Republican primary dwindled to two candidates. Haley and former President Donald Trump are the last two Republicans standing, with Trump holding a commanding lead the rest of the way. At this point, it seems unlikely that Haley’s reported trysts will have any meaningful impact on her campaign’s success since it appears almost guaranteed that she will lose to Trump either way.
Flash back to just a couple of months ago, and Haley had replaced Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) as the anointed one after a couple of debate performances. Haley was now the preferred candidate for such people as the Koch brothers and the donor class of the GOP. Haley’s shine started to dim after a startling inability to answer a simple question about the origins of the Civil War. Other odd answers and behavior showed she was not ready for prime time. And then came the resurfaced allegations of her infidelity.
Previously, Haley denied being unfaithful to her husband, but recent reports bring that denial into question. The allegations are originally from 2010 during Haley’s gubernatorial campaign. She was accused of improper relationships by two separate men; one was a lobbyist, and the other was a political blogger, Politico reported at the time. Last week, the Daily Mail published an article revisiting those incidents, with details appearing to validate the claims of Haley’s transgressions.
Extramarital affairs have typically been shunned by the GOP, at least publicly, almost in a scarlet letter-type fashion. This is actually a good thing, as cheating on spouses is immoral, shameful, and wrong. However, there was a bit of a double standard. Some Republicans, especially several current female Republicans in Congress, were shunned because of their romantic indecencies. The same thing goes with former President Donald Trump.
However, Haley was supposed to be different and mark a return to decency, even though knowledge of her alleged affairs was more than a decade old. Instead, the resurfaced allegations indicate she was just as bad as everyone else. Haley’s reputation or morality hasn’t been besmirched for her alleged transgressions the way Trump was. Such silence makes one wonder if the outrage around Republican extramarital affairs is genuine or performative politics that is weaponized and activated depending on the candidate. The same standards used to judge Trump should also apply to Haley since rumors of her affairs appear to be true.