Nikki Haley Picks on Kamala Harris’s Memorial Day Tweet and Then Steps in it Herself
- The Republican presidential hopeful continues her pointed criticism of the Vice President, trying to ignite the social media furor over a non-issue.
Another day, another meaningless social media conflict. This time, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haleyhad a go at Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday over Harris’ well-wishes for the holiday weekend. However, instead of scoring cheap political traction, Haley ended up being called out for her own hypocrisy.
So, here’s how things unfolded. Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted two things ahead of the Memorial Day holiday: a video of a conversation with Sydney Barber, the first Black woman Brigade Commander of the U.S. Naval Academy, and a photo of herself along with the text, “Enjoy the long weekend.”
Harris’ tweet became a sore subject for people who felt the veep wasn’t honoring vets, according to Fox News.
Harris’s tweet garnered criticism from conservative voices on the platform, including Jenna Ellis, part of former President Donald Trump’s legal team, who responded, “We enjoyed having a president and VP who respected America’s heroes.”
That immediately led to Brian Tyler Cohen and others sharing the Sept. 2020 Atlantic article contending that Trump called those who died in combat “losers” and suckers.”
The Twitter anti-Harris barrage picked up traction.
Some Twitter users expressed disapproval that Harris had tweeted about the long weekend instead of what Memorial Day is about. Harris’ tweet met intense backlash for not mentioning fallen soldiers, instead telling people to ‘enjoy’ having Monday off.
Air National Guard, Lt. Colonel Adam Kinzinger, blasted her tweet as ‘tone deaf.’
“Enjoy your freedom purchased by many who died for it. Tone deaf,” he tweeted.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Former White House press secretary and Republican candidate for Governor of Arkansas said that even her seven-year-old son ‘understands what this weekend is about.’
“Show some respect for the heroes who paid the ultimate price for our freedom,” the former press secretary for President Trump tweeted.
Beth Baumann, a political reporter and editor at The Daily Wire, tweeted: “This isn’t a ‘long weekend’. It’s a weekend where we honor the fallen.”
But loudest among her other detractors was Nikki Haley, who retweeted it on Sunday afternoon and wrote, “unprofessional and unfit” to hold office.
Memorial Day takes place on the last Monday of May to honor and mourn United States military personnel who died in the line of duty.
However, Harris had tweeted on Sunday morning, hours before Haley’s criticism, about the meaning of the national holiday, directly honoring the troops and Memorial Day.
“Throughout our history our service men and women have risked everything to defend our freedoms and our country,” Harris said. “As we prepare to honor them on Memorial Day, we remember their service and their sacrifice.”
And then things got really topsy-turvy.
While Haley did post a carefully-crafted performative Memorial Day tweet on Monday morning touting, “We are a blessed country because of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country,” she also took to Twitter to share a selfie of her and her son.
The accompanying tweet read, “Thankful on this Memorial Day for the blessings of family and spending time with my little one,” accompanied by the lightly-used #notsolittleanymore hashtag.
And then the tables turned, and social media exploded. Haley got slammed for her apparently over-casual public tone and posting a waterside vacation photo with her family on the solemn holiday weekend.
Some pointed at the fact that the vice-president was, in fact, honoring the troops on Memorial Day, while the former South Carolina governor appeared to be on vacation somewhere tropical.
Kimberly Johnson, Host of the #StartMeUp podcast tweeted, “Not surprisingly, many Twitter users accused her of hypocrisy. Unfit and not appropriate. You should be mourning fallen soldiers and not enjoying your day. I mean, isn’t that what you tweeted out to @VP?”
Netizen Jim, replying to @AuthorKimberley and @VP @NikkiHaley.
Didn’t you criticize VP Harris for sending out a tweet that didn’t mention fallen soldiers? The VP went to Arlington today w/ POTUS honored our nation’s fallen heroes. Did YOU honor dead soldiers today? How? Your son looks old enough to enlist? Has he served?”
Another social media user tweeted, “I see you are enjoying your long weekend AT HOME. Meanwhile, the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Devi Harris, is honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country on today’s Memorial Day.”
Adam Cohen tweeted, “This is what you’re doing on #Memorial Day 2021. While @VP , who you called “unprofessional and unfit” Gave a commencement speech at Annapolis and paid respects at John McCain’s grave. You are entitled to family time but, stuff your hypocrisy. Especially when you worked for Trump.”
Whereas another netizen tweeted, “That led one person to respond directly to Haley on the platform, noting, “It’s wonderful that you have a chance to spend extra time with your family,” before criticizing her by saying, “Maybe it’s not such a bad thing to ‘enjoy the long weekend. You owe VP an apology.”
And then there were others on Twitter questioned Haley’s professionalism in other ways, with one sharing a photo Haley posed for with conservative online personalities Diamond and Silk, cracking, “FLASHBACK: Nikki Haley poses with Unprofessional and Unfit.”
And while this non-controversy flooded social media feeds, any actual issues facing veterans on the occasion on Memorial Day went ignored and unaddressed!