38 NEWSWEEK.COM MARCH 05, 2021
POLITICSThe murders devastated Haley
and convinced her that the time had
come to remove the Confederate
flag, which still flew above the state
house in Columbia. The battle flag
had long been a political flash point
in South Carolina and throughout
much of the South. She knew she
would need widespread support,
including from some politicians
who in the past had rejected any ef-
forts to remove the flag. In the wake
of the Mother Emanuel murders, South Carolina Senator Tim
Scott, whom Haley appointed to his Senate seat in 2012, told
Newsweek that the only way to pull together that coalition was
to lead “from a place of tenderness, of brokenness, of vulner-
ability, and that’s exactly what she did. It was very impressive.”
She drew predictable support from prominent Democrats
such as African-American Congressman James Clyburn. But she
also managed to persuade Paul Thurmond, a state senator and
the son of segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond, to back the
flag’s removal.
Haley understood, as she put it, that some South Carolinians
looked upon the flag “with reverence.” But she made clear that
it was also a symbol of the ugliest chapter in American history.
The day the flag was taken down, Haley said, “was a great day
for the state of South Carolina.”
By 2024, her allies hope the type of political judgment she
demonstrated could be exactly what Republicans will be seeking.
“You’d get a lot of the Trump policies, but none of the mess that
comes with it,” a senator friendly with Haley told Newsweek be-
fore the election, granted anonymity in order to speak frankly.
“You’d get someone who demonstrated calm, pragmatic compe-
tence as a successful two-term governor, plus the foreign policy
experience at the U.N., plus the immigrant story, all presented in
a very elegant package. Do you honestly think Don Jr., or anyone
else for that matter, is likely to beat that? I don’t.”
That argument, to Haley’s supporters, became even more
compelling after January 6—and is no doubt part of the reason
Haley was willing to criticize Trump just weeks after the riot.
Eyes on the Prize
few in haley’s orbit doubt that her eyes are on the prize.
At a conservative political convention during Christmas 2019 in
Palm Beach, a number of Republican luminaries, Fox News per-
sonalities, GOP donors and current and former Trump advisers
gathered for cocktails one evening. The off-the-record conver-
sation got around to what the post-Trump GOP would look like.
Haley’s name quickly came up. “Well, she’s sure got the fire inCAROLINA COLORS
Top to bottom: Pro-
Confederate battle ʀag
protestors at the state
capitol, June 201; praying
outside the church where
nine Black people were
killed in July 2015; Haley
signing a bill the same
month to remove the battle
ʀag from the state house.
Opposite: Vice President
Kamala Harris is sworn in.