Pro-Trump Internet Trolls Escalate Ugly Attacks on Nikki Haley
Former President Donald J. Trump's online following has launched a relentless attack on Nikki Haley during her presidential campaign.
Online Attacks Escalate
For most of her presidential campaign, Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and former United Nations ambassador, has been spared the full onslaught from former President Donald J. Trump’s devoted following of internet trolls. The cadre of mostly anonymous personalities who wage near-constant battle in Mr. Trump’s name focused first on brutally attacking Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who had been considered the former president’s most potent rival in the 2024 Republican primary. But with Ms. Haley now his last remaining opponent, the machine has turned her way.
Online personalities have in recent weeks circulated vicious attacks through memes, posts and videos that often center on her race, gender and identity, including some that malign her for saying she was 'teased for being brown' and others that falsely claim she is ineligible to serve as president because her parents were immigrants. Some of the most disturbing material has been generated by artificial intelligence, and digitally manipulates her voice and likeness. Much of the content is rife with crude sexual innuendo.
Joan Donovan, a disinformation researcher and assistant professor of journalism at Boston University, said the threats and insults were indicative of the form of low politics and 'network harassment' that Mr. Trump and his online admirers ushered in.
Offline Harassment
As Ms. Haley and Mr. Trump head into a heated primary showdown on Saturday in South Carolina, her home turf, the online smears are likely only to intensify. And in an era when campaigns wage war online as well as off, not all the efforts have been confined to the internet.
Laura Loomer, an internet activist close to Mr. Trump who has lobbed harsh personal attacks at Ms. Haley on social media, has also tried to ambush her at campaign events, shouting questions at her staff and surrogates and filming their responses. Alex Stein from BlazeTV has confronted some of Ms. Haley’s young female volunteers.
The tide against Ms. Haley began soon after the Iowa caucuses, when it became clear that she, not Mr. DeSantis, represented Mr. Trump’s strongest challenger. At first, the content focused on her foreign policy stance, accusing her of being a 'warmonger' and attacking some of her policy decisions as South Carolina’s governor. Although Ms. Haley mostly sought to stay above the fray, her son, Nalin, was willing to hit back at her rivals on social media platforms with his own memes and quips.
The Impact on Female Candidates
Karen Kedrowski, the director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University, said the content captured the combination of sexist and racist overtones meant to rob targets of authority and convert them into objects of ridicule. The type of harassment, she and other analysts said, can be particularly damaging for female candidates.
"It reduces women down to being sexual objects," she said. That can open the door to more dangerous threats or physical violence, she added, pointing to how Ms. Haley has been a target of 'swatting,' hoax emergency calls that have sent the authorities scrambling to her door.
With regard to the uptick in content generated by fans of Mr. Trump, Ms. Perez-Cubas said it underscored why 'the tone at the top matters.'
