South-Carolina
South Carolina natives Nikki Haley and Tim Scott’s complicated history on display as they battle for GOP nomination
Sen. Tim Scott has spent the past few weeks hurling insults at fellow South Carolinian Nikki Haley following a feisty exchange between the two at the second Republican primary debate, exposing a rift between the two South Carolinian candidates with a history that goes back over a decade.
“She drew first blood,” Scott told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto. “She started off by making it personal. I, frankly, did not have a negative comment about her.”
At that Sept. 27 Republican debate, Haley did cast the first stone.
“Twelve years. Where have you been? Where have you been, Tim? Twelve years. We’ve waited, and nothing has happened,” Haley said to Scott during an attack on Congress’ record on spending, which she attempted to tie him to.
A few minutes later, Scott sniped back, referencing a controversy from 2018 surrounding expensive curtains installed at then-U.N. ambassador Haley’s residence in New York, a decision the New York Times reported was made during the Obama administration.
“You got bad information,” she said as Scott talked over her.
“Did you send them back?” he asked her repeatedly.
“Did you send them back? You’re the one that works in Congress,” an exasperated Haley shot back. “They were there before I ever showed up at the residence. You are scrapping.”
Haley was the first to live there, but the Obama administration had decided to purchase the drapes, according to officials who spoke with the New York Times.
While the exchange marked a tense point in the relationship between the two Palmetto State natives, 11 years earlier, it was Haley, the first minority female governor of the state — and one of the first in the country — who tapped then-Rep. Tim Scott to fill former Sen. Jim DeMint’s seat after his retirement.
In doing so, Scott became the first Black senator from the American South since the end of Reconstruction after the Civil War.
At the time, Haley acknowledged the gravity of the appointment, calling it “very important” to her “as a minority female, that Congressman Scott earned this seat.”
“He earned this seat for the person that he is; he earned this seat for the results he has shown; he earned this seat for what I know he’s going to do in making South Carolina and making our country proud,” Haley said.
Back then, both were rising political stars.
Now, over a decade later and both eyeing the Oval Office, their exchange at the debate brought a quietly brewing cold war to a simmering boil.
Attacks since the debate
The back-and-forth at the second debate was perhaps Scott’s most-discussed moment — perhaps not attracting the attention his campaign was hoping for going into the evening.
In the weeks since the debate, his polling has dropped precipitously, hovering just above 2% nationally, according to the most recent 538 modeling. By contrast, Haley has continued to gain ground both with donors and in her overall position among the primary field.
Appearing on “The Daily Show,” Haley burst into laughter when host Charlemagne tha God asked why she hadn’t told Scott to drop out yet.
“Yeah, you want to tell him that? I’ll leave that to you,” she said. “You know, I’m not going to be the one to tell him to get out. I’ll leave that up to you.”
Recently, Haley has downplayed her initial attack against Scott during the debate, calling him “a good senator” when asked at her ballot filing ceremony in Columbia, South Carolina, last month whether she regretted her decision to appoint him to the seat.
“I think he’s been a good senator. I think South Carolina should be proud of the work that he’s done,” Haley said.
For its part, Scott’s campaign recently announced that it will be spending the bulk of its resources in Iowa until the caucus in January. Campaign manager Jennifer DeCasper announced that Scott will be going “all in” to boost his numbers in the Hawkeye State.
In the latest Des Moine Register/NBC/Mediacom poll, despite heavy early ad investments, Scott’s share in the polling has dropped to 7%, 9 points behind Haley, who has moved ahead of Scott to third behind Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“I don’t know why his political people are telling him to attack me. I think that’s a mistake,” Haley told a town hall audience in South Carolina, adding that she’s “not focused on him or any other candidate.”
Scott has repeatedly said that he will not indulge in personal attacks on the campaign trail, but he has deemed Nikki Haley too “moderate.” He’s evoked the fictional character John Rambo to describe how he plans on handling their differences.
“The way we respond is not by being petty and being personal, but helping people understand what is already clear: the moderates are rallying behind her,” he said in a radio interview with hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton.
At the Florida Freedom Summit, Scott told the audience that what America needs is a “forward-looking optimistic conservative warrior.”
“She’s leaving conservatism behind on life and social issues and key principles. She is playing in the lane of the Never Trump. It won’t unite our party, though. And we can’t win with a moderate in 2024,” Scott said.
“You think about her initial response to the Palestinian refugees coming to America,” Scott continued. “She thought there was a way for us to vet them. You think about where she stands on the issue of abortion and the issue of life not having a 15-week national limit.”
Haley has not endorsed Scott’s national 15-week ban on abortions, saying any national legislation on the issue is unlikely to pass in a closely divided Congress.
At the third Republican primary debate, Haley dinged Scott on abortion, saying he did not co-sponsor Sen. Lindsey Graham’s 2022 legislation attempting to implement a 15-week ban. Scott, who co-sponsored a similar bill introduced by Graham in 2013, defended his record, contending the attack was “not true.”
On the matter of Palestinian civilians, Haley did tell Jake Tapper that “America has always been sympathetic to the fact that you can separate civilians from terrorists” in response to a question about Flordia Gov. Ron DeSantis’s assertion that all Palestinians were antisemitic.
But Haley’s response has been repeatedly mischaracterized by the DeSantis campaign, and now by Scott, in recent weeks despite the fact that during the same interview, Haley said nothing about resettling Palestinian refugees in the United States. Instead, she called on countries closer to the Gaza Strip to take on the responsibility.
The battle for South Carolina
Haley has also continued to gain ground in the pair’s shared home state.
In October, The Post and Courier, South Carolina’s largest newspaper, ran an editorial saying she was “one GOP candidate [who] can defeat Trump” and giving her its endorsement.
“We call on all the other Republican candidates for president to drop out and support her in a decidedly uphill battle against Donald Trump,” Cindy Ross Scoppe, an editorial writer for the publication, wrote in a piece published the same day.
She continued: “Although Ms. Haley should never be confused with a moderate, she could easily be next year’s choice of independents and traditional Republicans. But that requires the other candidates getting out of the way.”
And just a few weeks prior, George Will, a columnist for The Washington Post, called on Scott and other candidates to drop out of the race and consolidate around Haley.
“Disclosure,” Will’s column read at the top, “The columnist’s wife, Mari Will, an adviser to Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), disagrees with this column.”
Haley is solidly polling in second place in the state, albeit distantly, clocking 22% of the vote as Trump continues to dominate the pack, nabbing 53%, according to the most recent CNN/SSRS poll. She’s followed by DeSantis at 11% and Scott at 6%, a three-point drop from a September Washington Post/Monmouth poll.
The South Carolina Republican Party declined to comment for this story.
University of South Carolina freshman Ella Papazenif, a Haley supporter, told ABC News last month that she thinks the former governor could be a change-maker in American politics.
“I feel like she’d beat well-known people,” she said after hearing Haley speak at the ballot-filling ceremony in Columbia. “So I really liked that she’s running for president. I loved her as governor and love that she’s running for president. I feel like it’s a change in America that we need.”
South Carolina conservative political strategist Dave Wilson told ABC News it is Haley’s momentum and experience that is keeping her in the spotlight.
“Nikki Haley and Tim Scott are taking two very different approaches when it comes to the state. Nikki Haley has consistently been building up an infrastructure of people around her. She says state representatives, she’s got us representatives. She’s got advocates across the state who are out there, building momentum for her. Nikki Haley has consistently shown that momentum begets momentum when it comes to the way that she campaigns.” he said.
“Tim Scott has a strong force. He’s a strong conservative voice. But he doesn’t have the spread of networks across the state like Nikki Haley does,” he added.
Wilson said that Haley’s past experience in her uphill primary battle for the governor’s office in 2010 would give her an edge over Scott.
“Nikki Haley consistently builds momentum behind her. And that has been what you have seen happen with her in this race,” he said. “Tim Scott has strong, steady conservatives. And that strong, steady conservative approach, while good for holding an ongoing position, is not giving him the momentum he needs to be able to gain any level of traction with the voter base.”
Scott indicated before he announced that whatever happens on the campaign trail, the two will still remain friends.
“We were friends before,” he added. “We’ll be friends after.”
South Carolina football superfan Chris Paschal writes a weekly column during the season for GamecockCentral called “The Verdict.” Chris is a lawyer at Goings Law Firm in Columbia.
It will have been 44,592 days since Clemson students marched onto our campus with guns drawn when the Gamecocks take the field this Saturday in Death Valley. Back in 1902, Clemson students were mad because of a cartoon that depicted a Gamecock whipping a Tiger.
They marched on our campus, ready to cause bodily harm, over a cartoon. For 44,592 days, Clemson students, fans, coaches, players, and administrators have done everything but declare war on South Carolina to ensure they remain the superior football program in the state.
In 1902 there was more than just the cartoon. In 1902, Carolina beat Clemson.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution put it best following the game: the Clemson Tiger “was so successfully tamed this morning by Carolina. Its tail was twisted and twisted by the sturdy ‘pig skin pushers’ of Carolina, and after two hours and more of hard battle it gave up further fight, for time was called and it became as tame as the proverbial lamb.”
Carolina upset Clemson who at the time was led by John Heisman and was considered one of the great southern football powers. I think that too probably had a little something to do with the hostilities and hurt feelings coming from the Clemson students.
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For the 121st time this Saturday, it will be Carolina and Clemson playing a football game against each other. And while we are past the days of armed invasions, you can’t help but think this Saturday’s showdown may be the most consequential in the series’ history.
There have certainly been big matchups in years past. I am not discounting 1987. I am not overlooking 1979. I understand 2011-2013 featured some great teams. But this coming Saturday, both Clemson and Carolina will still be alive and in contention to bring home a national title.
The chances for both are not significant, but they are legitimate. For the first time in the entirety of the rivalry’s history, both Carolina and Clemson fans can hope that with a win over their hated rival they are one step closer to a playoff berth, which means one more step closer in the quest for a national championship.
Hopefully, the players donning the garnet and black won’t think similar thoughts as they run out onto the field for what should be a cold but sunny day. This game to the players needs to be about one thing: beating a team they are better than.
In continuing the list of firsts, for the first time in roughly a decade, South Carolina will have what I consider to be the better football team when they kick the ball off against Clemson. I think we have a better defense, I think we have a better offensive line, I think we have skill position players that are just as good as Clemson’s (if not better), and I think we have the better quarterback.
But that is what I think. I am an attorney. I am a fan. Clemson players won’t just roll over because I declared we have the better team. In fact, I expect this Dabo Swinney-led Clemson football team to fight like hell in an effort to keep their thumb still firmly on top of us.
Like Clemson fans, I think Clemson football players and coaches also think it is their birthright to beat the Gamecocks. And why shouldn’t they?
Clemson has won eight out of the last nine against Carolina. They have danced on our sidelines in the fourth quarter to Sandstorm, they have talked about how they think they will dominate us; they have talked about how we aren’t the real USC nor are we the real Carolina.
Underneath this façade of respect and admiration for this year’s Carolina team, Clemson fans (and I assume players) quietly assume 2024 will be just like most other recent years. They assume the moment will be too big, they assume the ghosts of years past will be too much, and they assume that by about 3:30 in the afternoon, Carolina will have once again not been physically or mentally strong enough to defeat Clemson.
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But I also think these assumptions, which often manifest themself in a holier-than-thou arrogance, stem from a small shred of doubt and fear that has crept into their minds. Carolina fans had no idea Clemson was passing the Gamecocks as a football program until it was too late. From 2009-2013, Carolina won five straight over Clemson. They assumed Clemson and their bumpkin coach were finally second fiddle to the Gamecocks. They ignored Clemson’s recruiting successes, they explained away Clemson’s double-digit win seasons as illegitimate due to being in the ACC, and they watched Clemson build a juggernaut that had passed Carolina in a very real and lasting way by 2014.
All it took was one whipping in 2014 for Carolina fans to realize that Clemson was now on a path that would destroy Gamecock hopes and dreams for many years to come. That feeling of “oh, crap” that Carolina fans felt in the few weeks leading up to the 2014 Clemson games, I wonder if Clemson fans are feeling that very same thing leading up to this Saturday’s game.
Maybe the thought of Carolina passing Clemson as a program hasn’t even crossed their minds. Maybe it is absurd that I would mention that in this column. Maybe by the final snap on Saturday, Clemson will have soundly defeated Carolina and made me and so many hopeful Gamecock fans look foolish.
Or maybe Harbor, Kennard, Stewart, Hemingway, Sanders, Knight, Emmanwori, Sellers, and so many other Gamecock stalwarts are capable of handling business and showing we do have the better team.
A win this weekend could be program defining. It at the very least could be season defining.
Is Shane Beamer and this Gamecock program always a bridesmaid but never the bride? Or is this team going to let this state and this nation understand that this is a new type of Gamecock football program?
We won’t know until Saturday, but I will be in Clemson cheering Carolina on, with the hope – the belief – that we will see that latter. Let’s tame the tiger once again into the proverbial lamb.
Forever to thee.
South-Carolina
Warde Manuel discusses how Clemson-South Carolina winner could see College Football Playoff resume boosted
Ranked No. 12, Clemson is just on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoff. But the Tigers could help their case on Saturday.
Hosting in-state rival and No. 15 ranked South Carolina, Clemson could notch a very meaningful win. And on top of being the best win the Tigers would have notched all season, it would be a strong final argument to make for the selection committee — assuming Clemson doesn’t back into the ACC title game.
While he didn’t comment on specifics of a hypothetical, CFP selection committee chair Warde Manuel acknowledged a win would surely help Clemson’s case to snag an at-large bid, when asked directly about the Tigers.
“I’ll continue to say we don’t look forward and we don’t project, but winning always helps. I will say that,” Manuel said. “When teams win, we value what they do. I don’t know what that would mean towards where they will be in projecting, but there is value in winning games.”
And it’s a boost that could cut both ways. As much as a win could help Clemson, it could be equally valuable to South Carolina as the Gamecocks try to get in position for an improbable at-large bid, one that would require some chaos ahead in the rankings.
Manuel also explained why Clemson slotted at No. 12 ahead of a cadre of SEC teams.
With Clemson slotted in at No. 12 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, ahead of the likes of Alabama and Ole Miss, the decision of skeptics, despite the Tigers having a slightly better win-loss record.
Both the Crimson Tide and Rebels are 8-3, but have arguably better resumes than Clemson, which lacks many big wins. Nevertheless, the selection committee found the Tigers resume to be just enough to put them ahead, according to Manuel.
“Well, Clemson slid up with some losses ahead of them by Alabama and Mississippi, and they had a win against Citadel, obviously, but that wasn’t the big reason,” Manuel said. “Obviously they’re at 9-2, with only two losses. The teams right behind them have three losses. We just felt as a committee as we looked at their body of work, with three straight wins after their loss to Louisville, including back-to-back wins against Virginia Tech and Pitt, that they deserved to move up into that 12th position.”
Manuel also discussed how the committee came to the decision to delineate Alabama and Ole Miss as the No. 13 and No. 14 teams, respectively.
Three SEC teams – Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina – have three losses, and all eyes were on where they’d come in during the fourth rankings reveal.
Ultimately, Alabama came in as the highest-ranked of the group at No. 13, followed by Ole Miss at No. 14 and South Carolina at No. 15. According to Manuel, that decision was largely due to head-to-head matchups.
Manuel said the Crimson Tide’s resume – which includes wins over Georgia, Missouri and LSU – was a separator in the committee’s decision. But since Alabama and Ole Miss both have wins over South Carolina, that led them to come in at 13, 14 and 15, respectively.
For the first time really all year, South Carolina football is facing some injury questions. Wide reciever Jared Brown, tight ends Joshua Simon and Michael Smith all missed the Wofford game last week, forcing the Gamecocks to change up their approach offensively and play with one or no tight ends all day.
On Tuesday afternoon at his weekly press conference, Shane Beamer updated the injury sitution going into Saturday’s game at Clemson.
Regarding Brown, Beamer said “he’ll be fine” and confirmed the Coastal Carolina transfer will play in his first rivalry game this weekend. Wide reciever Vandrevius Jacobs on the other hand is out this weekend with a hamstring injury he suffered against Wofford.
Beamer did not have a further update on either of the tight ends, simply saying “we’ll see” with regards to Simon and Smith.
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