The Daily Mail claims Nikki Haley had extramarital affairs and then lied about them
Nikki Haley, the GOP’s and Democrats’ preferred Republican party presidential candidate, presents herself as the opposite of Donald Trump. Her position is that she’s the—ahem—"conservative” candidate in word and deed, right down to her perfect family life. However, the Daily Mail is claiming that Nikki Haley cheated on her husband in the lead-up to her becoming South Carolina’s governor and that she’s been lying about it ever since. If true, this is a blow to Haley’s purity persona.
The Daily Mail’s accusations are bombshell material:
New witnesses have come forward telling DailyMail.com that Haley’s denials of two alleged 2008 affairs are false, and that the supposed trysts were brazen and widely known among South Carolina politicos.
Will Folks, 49, and Larry Marchant, 61, both signed affidavits in 2010 alleging they had a sexual relationship with the then-South Carolina lawmaker, before she went on to become governor.
While the contents of the affidavits were described by major news outlets at the time, this is the first time they have been published outside of Folks’ own document which he published on his blog.
Haley, 51, denied both at the time, saying she was ‘100% faithful’ to the father of her two children and husband of 28 years, Michael Haley – who was deployed in Afghanistan with the National Guard in 2012.
Haley now frequently cites him as a reason for her presidential candidacy.
But multiple GOP insiders told DailyMail.com that they were intimately aware of Haley’s infidelity as a South Carolina lawmaker – including tales of steamy liaisons in the back of her Cadillac SUV, ‘canoodling’ in her lovers’ laps at bars, and nights spent together in a Columbia, South Carolina duplex.
Haley has not responded directly to the accusations other than to bar the Daily Mail from any of her campaign appearances.
Image: Nikki Haley (edited). YouTube screen grab.
I find the story interesting for a few reasons:
One: It reminds me of the saga of Mark Sanford, the South Carolina governor who preceded Nikki Haley. His political career imploded when he lied to his staff about a hike on the Appalachian Trail but was actually off in Argentina with his mistress.
Two: Having become acquainted with people involved in South Carolina politics, I can tell you that it’s a small world. If Haley had been doing something naughty, people would have known. That doesn’t mean that those who say she was engaged in an affair are speaking the truth. It does mean, though, that it’s not crazy for them to say that “everyone” knew.
Three: One of the things that’s so striking about Nikki is that she simply radiates sanctimony. Maybe she really is as pure as the driven snow when it comes to her private life. However, if she isn’t, her sanctimonious image is just one more fake thing about Nikki, with the biggest and most consequential fakery being her alleged conservativism.
Don’t be distracted by people who claim the “whataboutism” of Donald Trump. They will inevitably point to Trump’s checkered marital history and long career as a playboy, adding that we’re misogynistic hypocrites if we give Trump a pass while castigating Haley. A few points about that, too:
One: As I said, Nikki’s sin, if the report is true, would be hypocrisy; that is, the pose of purity in the face of actual bad behavior. Trump has never hidden who and what he is. Americans voted for him because of his politics and accepted that he came with a past.
Two: Ignore the “grab ‘em by the p****” argument. Significantly, Trump never said that he did anything like that. Instead, in a shoot-the-bull session with the boys on the bus, Trump accurately stated that, when you are a rich and powerful man, there is a type of woman who unabashedly makes sex available and allows these men to do anything. Moreover, the video that the media was orgasmically excited about doesn’t say or show what they said it said or showed.
Three: Ignore, too, E. Jean Carroll’s allegedly successful rape claim against Trump. Rape is a serious criminal act, which requires a trial that requires that the prosecutor use reliable evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed rape. The statute of limitations around such cases ensures that (a) the victim thinks something bad happened and (b) memories and evidence are fresh. Carroll, who claimed the event occurred in 1996 or 1997 (she’s not sure), waited until 2019 to bring up the alleged attack.
Because a criminal case was impossible, Carroll ended up filing a civil claim alleging that Trump defamed her when he denied the rape allegations. The burden of proof for this was only a preponderance of evidence. Even then, acting under the aegis of a hostile judge, the jury was still able to conclude only that Trump “sexually abused” Carroll.
The soggy, political, grandstanding case was made weirder by the fact that E. Jean Carroll is an, um, “interesting” person. Also, her allegations about the events that occurred perfectly aligned with a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit plot.
So, no, Trump is not a cudgel with which to push back against the current allegations regarding Nikki’s behavior.