It’s now been more than one year since Nikki Haley officially threw her hat in the ring for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. And even after losing to “None of These Candidates” in Nevada, the former South Carolina governor shows no signs of slowing down.
The Daily Show correspondent and this week’s guest host Desi Lydic is admittedly happy that Haley is hanging in there, “Because even if you don’t agree with her politics, she still really pisses Donald Trump off. And that’s a beautiful thing.”
What Lydic can’t understand, however, is how Haley suddenly began being labeled as a “moderate” Republican when even the presidential candidate herself regularly reminds people that she is a conservative through and through.
Though no one seems to be disputing Haley’s “moderate” label, Lydic says that “when you actually take a look at her policies, they aren’t that different from Trump.”
Instead, Lydic thinks that perhaps the confusion rests with Haley’s demeanor. “She’s certainly the only candidate speaking at a moderate volume. You’ve got Trump screaming so loud, A&T satellites are exploding… Just using a proper inside voice is going to seem like a breath of fresh air.”
Ultimately, however, Lydic has noticed a pattern: If a Republican believes that Joe Biden is the fairly elected and true president, they are labeled a “moderate,” regardless of their beliefs. So “when the media attaches this label to candidates who support abortion bans and endless wars—that makes those beliefs sound moderate.”
But there’s an important distinction, according to Lydic. “Because the word ‘moderate’ means much more than just believing Joe Biden won the election… And the media should not be labeling them as moderates just because they passed the low bar of not overthrowing the government.”
