2020 ‘The Year Socialism Went Mainstream’: Nikki Haley

2020 ‘The Year Socialism Went Mainstream’: Nikki Haley
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley visits "Fox & Friends" at Fox News Channel Studios in New York City on Nov. 12, 2019. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
Bill Pan
12/29/2020
Updated:
12/29/2020

Socialism, despite its history of failure, has become mainstream this year and is being adopted by Democratic politicians as their go-to economic policy, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley warned Monday.

“2020 was the year socialism went mainstream,” Haley wrote on Twitter. “The dangerous ideology, which has failed everywhere it has been tried & ruined countless lives, is on its way to becoming the default economic policy of the Democratic Party.”

“This terrifying trend threatens the future of every American,” she added.

Haley made similar comments about socialism last week while voicing support for Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who is set to face off Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock in Georgia’s runoff elections.

“This is the Democratic Party that believes you cancel anyone that doesn’t agree with you,“ she said. ”They believe that you defund the police and stop taking care of those that serve us. They believe that socialism is the new way of life. And they think that you should put your lives and your healthcare in the hands of government.”

A two-term governor of South Carolina and outspoken defender of President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy and foreign policy, Haley was featured on the opening night of the 2020 Republican National Convention, where she cast former Vice President Joe Biden as being beholden to the radical progressives and their socialist agenda.

“Their vision for America is socialism. And we know that socialism has failed everywhere,” Haley said at that time. “They want to tell Americans how to live, and what to think. They want a government takeover of healthcare. They want to ban fracking and kill millions of jobs. They want massive tax hikes on working families.”

Haley’s remarks come as an emboldened progressive wing continues to tilt the Democratic Party more to the left. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, despite having campaigned as a moderate, eventually adopted an economic platform that features items absorbed from progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), promising a $15-per-hour federal minimum wage, as well as a $4 trillion federal investment into healthcare, education, infrastructure, and clean energy.

Earlier this month, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a young progressive firebrand, said in an interview with The Intercept that it’s time for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to step down from their leading positions to make room for a new leadership. She also talked about replacing moderate Rep. Richie Neal (D-Mass.) as head of the Ways and Means Committee.

“We are currently negotiating to get and work towards real material concessions for the left that can move things into place, to help build power for the next two years,” the Congresswoman said.