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There are emerging signs of a deep schism in the Republican Party over how or even whether the US should stand up to authoritarianism in Russia.
How to approach Russia and help Ukraine is a topic that separates true believers of Donald Trump from the Republicans who may have simply fallen in line behind the former president.
It’s also the issue former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is talking about as she vows to carry on with her presidential campaign even if, as seems increasingly likely, she loses the Republican primary Saturday in her home state of South Carolina, where she once served as governor. Saturday also happens to be the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In recent days, Haley has made passionate arguments about the need for the US to stand up to autocrats and bristled at Trump’s attempt to compare himself to Alexey Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in jail.
She delivered what was billed as a “major” speech in South Carolina Tuesday to make clear that, no, she would not be dropping out of the race anytime soon. With a not-so-subtle nod to Trump’s failure to criticize Russia for Navalny’s death, she compared elections in democracies to those in autocracies.
Primaries, Haley argued, should be about presenting choices to voters. Most Republicans, she pointed out, have not had a chance to cast primary ballots.
“People have a right to have their voices heard and they deserve a real choice, not a Soviet-style election where there’s only one candidate and he gets 99% of the vote,” Haley said.