Wednesday’s edition of CNN This Morning assembled a panel to discuss Former U.N. Ambassador and GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s recent comments that America has had moments of racism, but has never been a racist country. Commentator Natasha Alford didn’t just disagree with the historic assertion, but also tried to pin 2022 and 2023 mass shootings by white supremacists in Buffalo and Jacksonville on the entire country.
Before making the divisive comments, Alford asserted that Haley’s remarks prove she cannot be president during a time of deep division, “You do not deserve to be president of this country if you don't have a coherent, consistent message about race. It is just 101, right? If you're going to lead this country through a time of division and partisanship, you have to have a consistent message.”
After claiming Haley’s remarks show “why people don't trust her, Alford got to Buffalo and Jacksonville, “This will not work in a general election, Okay? You want to say that America was not a racist country to voters who are in Buffalo, right, and just saw people killed in the Top shooting, or in Jacksonville, Florida. I mean, all of these voters are out there, and they want to know that you are going to tell the truth, but also that you have a message of hope for the future. Flip-flopping on that doesn't earn you any respect.”
Co-host Poppy Harlow then reported on the campaign’s attempt to clarify or perhaps clean up the initial remarks, “Her campaign later yesterday put out a statement that said America has always had racism, but America has never been a racist country.”
Alford quickly responded, “That’s even worse” and after co-host Phil Mattingly asked why, she continued, “I mean, it's just -- it's talking out of both sides of your mouth. And again, we cannot trust leaders who don't actually have a vision around this, right? People are tired of the division. They are tired of the sort of pain and gaslighting around racism.”
She also added, “And so if you come with a message that says, you know, we're not racist, but you know, I had a couple of experiences with racism, but -- it's just not cohesive, it's not coherent, and it undermines any sense of belief that this person actually stands on what they believe.”
Mattingly then claimed that “I would venture that I don't know anybody in the Republican Party who would give that different of a message. In fact, Ron DeSantis agreed with it last night. I think Senator Tim Scott has said similar things.”
Fellow panelist Scott Jennings then got the conversation back on a more level-headed plane, “Noted Republican, Vice President Kamala Harris has said, ‘This is not a racist country,’ when she and Tim Scott had a conversation about this a while back. I do think you can make a distinction between saying an entire country is racist versus saying that there have been individual people or moments of racism.”
Jennings is, of course, correct and that has nothing to do with Haley’s comments as he would proceed to argue that Haley was wrong by pointing to the rise of the KKK after the Civil War. It is not gaslighting to claim that Buffalo and Jacksonville are not representative of the entire country.
Here is a transcript for the January 17 show:
CNN This Morning
1/17/2024
6:18 AM ET
NATASHA ALFORD: You do not deserve to be president of this country if you don't have a coherent, consistent message about race. It is just 101, right? If you're going to lead this country through a time of division and partisanship, you have to have a consistent message.
And I think this is why people don't trust Nikki Haley. They can't trust that she actually says what she means and she believes, but they -- they can count on her saying whatever sounds good to the audience that she's speaking to.
This will not work in a general election, Okay? You want to say that America was not a racist country to voters who are in Buffalo, right, and just saw people killed in the Top shooting, or in Jacksonville, Florida. I mean, all of these voters are out there, and they want to know that you are going to tell the truth, but also that you have a message of hope for the future. Flip-flopping on that doesn't earn you any respect.
POPPY HARLOW: Especially on this issue.
ALFORD: Especially.
HARLOW: It just -- one note, in case people miss it. Her campaign later yesterday put out a statement that said America has always had racism, but America has never been a racist country.
ALFORD: That's even worse.
PHIL MATTINGLY: Why?
ALFORD: I mean, it's just -- it's talking out of both sides of your mouth. And again, we cannot trust leaders who don't actually have a vision around this, right? People are tired of the division. They are tired of the sort of pain and gaslighting around racism.
And so if you come with a message that says, you know, we're not racist, but you know, I had a couple of experiences with racism, but -- it's just not cohesive, it's not coherent, and it undermines any sense of belief that this person actually stands on what they believe.
MATTINGLY: I would -- at the same time, I would venture that I don't know anybody in the Republican Party who would give that different of a message. In fact, Ron DeSantis agreed with it last night. I think Senator Tim Scott has said similar things.
SCOTT JENNINGS: Noted Republican, Vice President Kamala Harris has said, "This is not a racist country," when she and Tim Scott had a conversation about this a while back. I do think you can make a distinction between saying an entire country is racist versus saying that there have been individual people or moments of racism.
