South Carolina governor Nikki Haley apologized for implying that Marco Rubio supported amnesty for illegal aliens and again bashed Donald Trump.

Nikki Haley said late Wednesday that she had misspoken when she said that Marco Rubio was for "amnesty" and that Jeb Bush had passed Common Core, the controversial educational standards.

"I talked about Marco Rubio – you know, I'm against his Gang of Eight bill. He is not for amnesty, but I was against his Gang of Eight bill," she told host Greta Van Susteren. "Gov. Bush, he supported Common Core, certainly didn't pass it, but supported it."

"What I meant was I didn't agree with him on the Gang of Eight Bill," Haley repeated, reiterating that she didn't mean to say he was for "amnesty."

That's funny, because Rubio says he does support a path to citizenship for illegal aliens.  It's painful to watch Haley split hairs and apologize for saying what everyone knows.

And then Haley attacked Donald Trump even more explicitly.

Ms. Haley acknowledged on Wednesday morning that she was referring to Mr. Trump when she warned Americans not to follow the angriest voices in politics. "Mr. Trump has definitely contributed to what I think is just irresponsible talk," she told the "Today" show on NBC.

Frank Luntz, the Republican pollster, noted that Democrats liked the idea that a leading Republican was blaming her own party for the hostile tone of politics.

It looks as though she's proving very popular with some voters, at least.

For me, it looks as though she's just another establishment, pro-amnesty politician.  What's even worse is that she's an awful speaker.  Haley speaks in a painfully slow, rehearsed-sounding tone that sounds as if she's talking to five-year-olds.  Her jaw doesn't move, and she looks as if she is talking through clenched teeth.  If she were a white male politician, there is no way she would have been picked to give the State of the Union response with such pathetic speaking skills.

Just a week ago, everyone was talking about Haley as a likely VP pick.  Since neither Jeb nor Rubio is likely to be the nominee, I would say her chances are not very high.

This article was written by Ed Straker, senior writer of NewsMachete.com, the conservative news site.