Forfeiting their souls: Haley performs Republican ritual of personal debasement for Trump

STRONGLY ENDORSES DONALD TRUMP. SHE SAID THAT IN AN UNEQUIVOCAL WAY AND IS NOW LAYING OUT HER CASE FOR WHY EVERYONE SHOULD SUPPORT DONALD TRUMP. JOINING US NOW FROM THE RNC AS REPORTER TIM ALBERTA, WHO CHRONICLED THE PORTIONS OF MANY REPUBLICAN HOPEFULS AND THEIR CAMPAIGNS INCLUDING AMBASSADOR NIKKI HALEY, WHO HAD QUITE THE WILD RIDE IN HER NOW VERY MUCH OVER FIGHT WITH TRUMP. IT'S GREAT TO HAVE YOU WITH US. THANKS FOR BEING HERE. >> Reporter: THANKS FOR HAVING ME, RACHEL. >> SO, NIKKI HALEY AND HER RELATIONSHIP WITH TRUMP, IT IS LIKE WATCHING ONE OF THOSE PADDLE GAMES WHERE THE BALL IS ATTACHED BY AN ELASTIC STRING AND IT KEEPS COMING BACK FOR ANOTHER WHACK. WAS THERE ANY DOUBT THAT SHE WOULD BE GIVING THIS SPEECH IF SHE WERE ASKED TO? THAT SHE WOULD BE GIVING A FULL ENDORSEMENT AT THE END OF HER JOURNEY WITH TRUMP, INCLUDING THE WAY SHE RAN AGAINST HIM THIS YEAR? >> NO, NOT IN MY MIND. AND I WILL TELL YOU WHY, BECAUSE ONE OF THE VIVID MEMORIES OF THE LAST FEW YEARS FOR ME WAS SITTING WITH NIKKI HALEY AT HER COUNTRY CLUB IN SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE DAYS AFTER JANUARY 6. I HAD SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH HER OVER THE PREVIOUS COUPLE OF MONTHS WHILE I WAS WRITING FOR POLITICAL MAGAZINE AND THE PROFILE WAS JUST ABOUT OVER AND THEN JANUARY 6 HAPPENED. SO SHE INVITED ME BACK DOWN FOR ANOTHER CONVERSATION AND IN THAT CONVERSATION, RACHEL, NIKKI HALEY SAID TO ME, LISTEN. DONALD TRUMP LET US DOWN. WE SHOULD NOT HAVE LISTENED TO HIM. WE SHOULD NOT HAVE FOLLOWED HIM DOWN THIS PATH AND WE CAN NEVER FOLLOW HIM AGAIN. THAT IS WHAT SHE SAID TO ME AND WHAT WAS SO STRIKING IN THAT MOMENT WAS OF COURSE THERE WERE REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS IN THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE AT THAT POINT CONSIDERING WHETHER TO IMPEACH TRUMP AND MAYBE EVEN WHETHER TO INVOKE THE 25th AMENDMENT AGAINST TRUMP. I ASKED HER IF YOU WERE IN CONGRESS, WOULD YOU BE ON BOARD WITH THAT? WOULD YOU BE TRYING TO OUST TRUMP? SHE TOLD ME THAT DOES NOT MATTER, BECAUSE HE IS ALREADY DEAD POLITICALLY. HE CAN NEVER COME BACK FROM THIS. HE HAS SUNK INTO FAR. THE DAMAGES DONE, SO THERE IS NO NEED TO DO ANY OF THAT BECAUSE HIS CAREER AS WE HAVE KNOWN IT IS OVER AND HERE WE ARE TODAY. NIKKI HALEY'S ARK, VIS-A-VIS DONALD TRUMP, HAS BEEN MORE DRAMATIC THAN MOST, BUT IN MANY WAYS I THINK SHE IS PROBABLY THE BEST, THE MOST ACCURATE REPRESENTATIVE OF HOW SO MANY PEOPLE WHO KNOW BETTER AND WHO PUBLICLY CAME OUT AGAINST TRUMP AND SAID HE WAS EFFECTIVELY UNFIT TO BE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, HOW THEY SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY ALWAYS WIND UP COMING BACK AND ACCOMMODATING THEMSELVES TO HIM IN THE END. >> IS THAT BECAUSE THERE IS SOMETHING FOR HER IN IT? I MEAN, I DON'T THINK SHE HAS A PLACE IN A SECOND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION. I COULD BE WRONG. HAVING GONE MUCH FURTHER THAN JUST CRITICIZING HIM IN NORMAL TERMS, EVEN WITH GIVING A SPEECH, HE HAS TO EXPECT THAT SHE IS NOT GOING TO WIN ANY OBVIOUS OR IMMEDIATE PRIZE HERE. THE CALCULATION AND THE WAY NIKKI HALEY THINKS ABOUT POLITICS, THAT SOMEDAY IN A POST TRUMP FUTURE SHE WILL BE REMEMBERED AS A GOOD ENOUGH SOLDIER TO WIN VOTERS TRUST AGAIN? I MEAN, WHERE DOES SHE SEE THIS GOING? >> Reporter: WHAT IS INTERESTING, RACHEL, AS I SPENT THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS ON THE CONVENTION FLOOR TALKING WITH DELEGATES, IT REALLY IS REMARKABLE HOW SHORT OF A MEMORY MANY OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE. IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT J.D. VANCE CALLED DONALD TRUMP AMERICAS HITLER. IF YOU LOOK AT THE PRIMETIME SPEAKING LINEUP, I WOULD VENTURE TO SAY THAT IT IS ONE OUT OF EVERY THREE REPUBLICANS FEATURED THIS WEEK SPEAKING AT THE CONVENTION, HAVE IN THE PAST OFFERED BLISTERING, LIKE REALLY, REALLY HARSH CRITICISM OF DONALD TRUMP. NOT EVEN A POLITICAL LEVEL, BUT A PERSONAL LEVEL CALLING HIM UNETHICAL, UNFIT FOR OFFICE, WHAT HAVE YOU. AND YET AS LONG AS THEY COME BACK AROUND AND KISS THE RING AND APOLOGIZE AND SWEAR THAT THEY DID NOT MEAN IT, THEN THEY WIND UP BEING EMBRACED BY THE PARTY FAITHFUL. I THINK IF YOU ARE NIKKI HALEY THEN YOU UNDERSTAND EVEN THOUGH YOU WERE CRITICAL OF TRUMP IN 2016, SAYING HE BEHAVED LIKE A KINDERGARTNER AND WAS AN EMBARRASSMENT OR EVEN IF YOU WERE CRITICAL IN 2020, SAYING HE HAD FALLEN SO FAR AND WE SHOULD NEVER FOLLOW HIM AGAIN, YOU RECOGNIZE AND POLITICS, ESPECIALLY TRUMP ERA REPUBLICAN POLITICS, PEOPLE HAVE A REALLY SHORT MEMORY AND THEY ARE ULTIMATELY WILLING TO FORGIVE AND FORGET AND MOVE ON AS LONG AS YOU DEBASE YOURSELF AND ULTIMATELY BEND THE KNEE TO HIM WHEN IT COUNTS THE MOST. >> TIM, WHEN YOU DO THESE KINDS OF LONGITUDINAL PROFILES, WHEN YOU SPEND TIME WITH A PERSON LIKE NIKKI HALEY, FOR THE TYPE OF JOURNALISM YOU HAVE BEEN DOING FOR POLITICAL MAGAZINE AND ELSEWHERE, DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE SEEING THE COST OF THAT DEBASEMENT? IT IS A FEATURE, A REGULAR FEATURE. IT IS NOT AN ACCIDENTAL, COINCIDENTAL OR INCIDENTAL THING THAT HAPPENS WITH DONALD TRUMP, THAT HE REGULARLY DEMANDS DEBASEMENT. NOT JUST THAT MEXICO WILL GET A WALL ON THE BORDER, BUT THAT THEY WILL PAY FOR IT. THERE IS THIS GROVELING HE DEMANDS AND REGULARLY GETS FROM EVERYONE ELSE IN REPUBLICAN POLITICS WHO HAS SORT OF FALLEN BEHIND AS HE HAS TAKEN OVER THAT PARTY IN ITS ENTIRETY. DO YOU SEE WHAT THAT COSTS THEM AS PEOPLE, JUST AS HUMAN BEINGS? >> Reporter: RACHEL, ONE OF MY FAVORITE VERSES IN SCRIPTURE IS MARK 8:36 WHICH SAYS WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN TO GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND FORFEIT HIS SOUL? TO THE QUESTION YOU ARE ASKING, WHAT WE HAVE SEEN IN SO MANY CASES, NIKKI HALEY AND SO MANY OTHERS, IS TRULY NOTHING SHORT OF FORFEITING ONE'S SOUL TO GAIN THE TEMPORARY AFFECTIONS OF DONALD TRUMP, OF HIS INNER CIRCLE AND THE PARTY BASE. YES, THERE IS A REAL AND PROFOUND AND CASCADING DAMAGE DONE TO THESE PEOPLE. NIKKI HALEY AS AN EXAMPLE, I CAN TELL YOU THAT IN REPORTING MY PROFILE OF HER, I SPOKE WITH DOZENS AND DOZENS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN FRIENDS, CONFIDANTS, ALLIES OVER THE YEARS. MOST OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE NO LONGER IN CONTACT WITH NIKKI HALEY. THEY FEEL ENTIRELY ESTRANGED IN PART BECAUSE THEY FEEL AS THOUGH SHE LIED TO THEM AND CONNED THEM INTO BELIEVING THAT SHE HAD A SET OF PRINCIPLES THAT WERE IRONCLAD THAT CAME FROM A DEEP PLACE AND SHE JETTISONED THEM AT THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO GAIN SOME SORT OF ENTREE INTO THE WORLD OF DONALD TRUMP AND THAT IS THE STORY OF SO MANY REPUBLICANS IN THE TRUMP ERA. FRANKLY IT IS A BIT HEARTBREAKING AT A CERTAIN LEVEL BECAUSE WHEN YOU TALK WITH SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ON THE OTHER SIDE, WHEN YOU TALK WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE SORT OF SUSTAINED THIS DAMAGE TO THEIR FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS, TO THEIR PROFESSIONAL CAREERS, TO THEIR REPUTATION, TO THEIR INTEGRITY. WHEN YOU TALK TO THEM ON THE OTHER SIDE WHAT THEY WILL TELL YOU, TIME AND TIME AGAIN, IT WAS NOT WORTH IT. I THINK OBVIOUSLY THAT REALIZATION HIT SOME PEOPLE SOONER THAN OTHERS. >> TIM ALBERTA, ATLANTIC STAFF WRITER. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TONIGHT. YOUR THOUGHTFUL JOURNALISM AND AGGRESSIVE OLD JOURNALISM ON THIS HAS HELPED WITH UNDERSTANDING IT. IT'S BEEN HELPFUL TO HAVE YOUR TONIGHT. THANKS SO MUCH. WE SAW NIKKI HALEY LEAVE THE STAGE MOMENTS AGO. LEAVING TO A ROUSING OVATION, A SORT OF STRAIGHT UP OVATION, IN CONTRAST TO THE MIX OF DOING AND CHEERING THAT GREETED HER ARRIVAL ON THE STAGE. THAT IS YOUR SIGNAL THAT SHE DID WHAT SHE WAS THERE TO DO, WHICH WAS TO MAKE A TOTALLY UNEQUIVOCAL ENDORSEMENT OF DONALD TRUMP. I THOUGHT THAT WAS POIGNANT WHAT TIM ALBERTA WAS SAYING, TIM ALBERTA WHO HAS DONE INCREDIBLE JOURNALISM ABOUT NIKKI HALEY AND SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH HER, TALKING ABOUT THE REACTION OF THOSE IN HER OWN LIFE AND POLITICAL CIRCLES IN WHICH SHE IS ESSENTIALLY ALONE. PEOPLE FEEL BETRAYED BY HER AFTER HER RUN AGAINST DONALD TRUMP. PEOPLE FEELING IN TIM'S WORDS THAT SHE HAD CONNED THEM INTO THINKING SHE HAD SOME SORT OF REAL, PRINCIPLED STANCE AGAINST A FIGURE LIKE TRUMP. IT'S ALSO INTERESTING, YOU SEE RON DESANTIS ON THE STAGE. RON DESANTIS AND NIKKI HALEY, ESSENTIALLY EQUIVALENT FIGURES DESPITE THE DIFFERENT APPROACHES EACH OF THEM TOOK FORD RUNNING AGAINST TRUMP IN 2024. HALEY DID GO TO TRUMP. RON DESANTIS NEVER DID, BUT IT DOES NOT MATTER. THEY WERE BOTH DESTROYED BY TRUMP IN THE PRIMARY. HAD NOT ONLY THEIR SUPPORTERS, BUT THEIR DONORS ATTACKED BY TRUMP AND ARE BOTH NOW REDUCED TO A SORT OF TWIN SPEAKING ROLE ENGAGEMENT THAT DOES NOT REFLECT ANYTHING, ANY CREDIT AT ALL FOR THE SLACK THAT RON DESANTIS CUT DONALD TRUMP FOR SOME OF THE PRIMARY THAT NIKKI HALEY DID NOT. THEY ALL END UP IN THE SAME BOTTOM OF THE SAME BARREL. NICOLLE WALLACE HAS BEEN WATCHING ALONG WITH US. OBVIOUSLY SOME NEWS FROM THE STAGE TONIGHT. NIKKI HALEY SAYING THAT SHE IS A STRONG ENDORSEMENT TONIGHT OF DONALD TRUMP AND THEN SPEND HER SPEECH TRYING TO TALK PEOPLE WHO DID NOT SUPPORT DONALD TRUMP INITIALLY INTO WHY SHE -- WHY THEY SHOULD CHANGE LIKE SHE HAS. WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT? >> TIM ALBERTA SPEAKS IN POETRY OF HIS OWN. HE IS SO UNIQUE AND DISTINCT AND I THINK HE DISTILLED THE CONVERSATION YOU WERE HAPPENING AT THE TOP OF THE HOUR, THE WHY, RIGHT? IT IS THE ABANDONING THEIR SOULS THAT IS STILL DISORIENTING. WE WATCHED CHRIS CHRISTIE DO IT. WE WATCHED MARCO RUBIO DUET. WE WATCHED TED CRUZ DO IT. ONE WAS CALLED FAT, ONE'S WIFE WAS CALLED UGLY AND THE OTHER WAS THE IMPLICATION WAS THAT SMALL HANDS MEANT SMALL SOMETHING ELSE AND THEY ALL ROLLED OVER. TO SEE THAT PHENOMENON ONGOING IN YEAR NINE OF THE TRUMP STORY IS REMARKABLE. TRUMP DOESN'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THEM. TODAY HE WAS ENGAGED IN A TWITTER WAR BECAUSE WHAT PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN IS CONSIDERING DOING WITH THE SUPREME COURT RATTLES HIM. HE GOT ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND SENT OUT A POST TRASH TALKING THAT IDEA. HE DOESN'T REALLY HAVE HIS MIND OR HIS GOT WITH ANYONE IN THE ROOM. HIS MIND IS ON WINNING AND TIM ALBERTA'S EXTRAORDINARY PIECE OF JOURNALISM BEFORE HIS REPORTING THIS WEEK WAS ABOUT THE SORT OF, I DON'T EVEN WANT TO CALL THEM BRAIN TRUST, BUT THE STRATEGIC NERVE CENTER OF THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND THE SMEARS AGAINST JOE BIDEN AND BRUTALLY PERFECT, NOT PERFECT, BRUTALLY PERSONAL ATTACKS AGAINST HIM, THAT WAS THEIR PLAN ALL ALONG. SO TO WATCH, SORT OF TO WATCH BOTH PIECES COME TOGETHER AND SORT OF COLLIDE, YOU REALLY HAVE TO REDUCE IT ALL