Nikki Haley, Fake News and Flawed Logic

Mrs. Haley, nice curriculum, but...

Nikki Haley decided to engage in Tweet warfare with Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Haley, who may one day take a shot at the presidency herself, was Governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 and US Ambassador to the UN from January 25, 2017 to December 31, 2018. Towards the end of next month, shareholders of troubled Boeing will be voting on her nomination to the board of directors. With a curriculum like hers, one would expect more lucidity...

Start by getting your facts right

Haley came under fire for attacking a Tweet by Bernie Sanders, who asked why the cost of having a baby in Finland was a fraction of that in the US. Haley's response revealed a complete ignorance of the facts:

Health care costs are too high that is true but comparing us to Finland is ridiculous. Ask them how their health care is. You won’t like their answer.

Now, if she criticised Sanders for comparing the US with Finland because of their very different circumstances, such as the vast difference in size, she may have had a point. However, to pick on Finnish health care, which is one of the best in the world, is truly pathetic. So, it was Haley who ended up not liking their answer. 

And then, some common sense please...

Still, what I found even more ludicrous was the other part of her response:

Alright @BernieSanders, you’re not the woman having the baby so I wouldn’t be out there talking about skimping on a woman when it comes to childbirth. Trust me! Nice try though.

Is she trying to say that because Sanders is not a woman, he cannot comment on financial matters relating to childbirth? This is a typical example of ignorance trying to silence truth. She might as well chastise Rushkin for commenting on Italian art, or Marx for discussing factory workers. Besides, when she was UN Ambassador, she had plenty to say about issues she had no direct experience of; Palestine for instance. One could throw her: "Nice try, though!" back at her. Although it generally was not that nice at all! In fact, while Bernie Sanders knows exactly what he is talking about, Haley often has not got a clue.