ABC’s Jon Karl sat down with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, fresh off her endorsement by New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu for that state’s presidential primary. But although the venue was New Hampshire, the tone and tenor of the questions were pure Acela, and Haley made sure to communicate that to Karl.
Watch as Haley lets Karl know that his obsessions with Donald Trump are, in fact, exhausting:
KARL: I mean, he's running on retribution. He wants to go out, and he talks about annihilating his enemies and using the criminal justice system to do so. What do you think of that?
HALEY: You guys are exhausting. You're exhausting in your obsession with him. The thing is, the normal people aren't obsessed with Trump like you guys are. The normal people care about the fact that they can't afford things. They feel like their freedoms are being taken away, they think government is too big. I know y'all want to talk about every single word he says and every single tweet he does. That's exactly why we need a new generational leader, because people don't want to hear about every word a person says or every tweet. They want to know how you fought for them that day, and they want to know how their life is going to be different, and life would be a whole lot different if the media would stop this obsession with trump.
KARL: I mean, I was just asking about his central campaign theme which is, you know, “I am your retribution”, and he's winning in the polls. That's why I'm asking. It's not an obsession. I'm asking about the leading candidate that you’re running against.
No fact check required here. Karl went quickly on the defensive and claimed that this was not an obsession, you see, but simply a question about the leading candidate in the 2024 GOP primary.
About whom he has written three books.
The questions Karl asked during this interview were about:
- Getting Sununu’s endorsement
- Trump
- Stakes of NH for the broader GOP primary
- Fact-check of Haley on whether chaos follows Trump
- Does Sununu’s endorsement really matter in the face of Trump
- Does Trump really have absolute immunity
- No, seriously, does Trump have immunity
- You seem to think Trump is above the law
- Does Haley feel the same way about J6
- Follow up on J6
- Voter quote on J6
- Follow up on the NH voter
- 2nd follow up on the NH voter
- 3rd follow up on NH voter
- “He’s running on retribution”
- Not an obsession
- Texas abortion case
- Follow-up on Texas abortion case- respond to Chris Christie
- 2nd follow-up on Texas abortion case
- 3rd follow-up on Texas abortion case
- 4th follow-up on Texas abortion case
- 5th follow-up on Texas abortion case
- Are you going to win NH?
- But you need to win somewhere?
- Can you be more specific?
- Aha! Sununu set an expectation!
The questions distill down to Trump and abortion, the Acela Media’s other obsession, with a bare minimum of questions on New Hampshire. This was not a serious, substantive interview of a candidate based on policy, but more of the same pointlessness from the Acela Media.
Haley was right to call Karl out, and she was right on the substance. The interview was exhausting.
For the full transcript of the aforementioned interview as aired on ABC This Week, click here.
