Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley on Wednesday tried to tiptoe back through the political minefield she created for herself by calling for a ban on anonymous social media accounts.
Haley did so after commentators on the right torched the former South Carolina governor for proposing that everyone on social media should be “verified by their name.”
Haley called the failure to do so “a national security threat.”
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On Wednesday, some conservatives vigorously bashed Haley.
Dan Bongino called it “by far the most horrendous idea of the election cycle.”
Byron York of The Washington Examiner called it a “dangerous idea,” as well as “a big unforced error that has given her opponents new ammunition to use against her.”
National Review’s Charles C.W. Cooke called it unconstitutional and “inappropriate in the extreme.”
Podcaster Dana Loesch said it was an “anti-American” plan that “betrays the very spirit of the founding of this country.”
Haley, who served as UN ambassador under former President Donald Trump, attempted to walk back her plan amid the criticism.
On CNBC, Haley began by saying social media companies should verify every one of their users, but then added, “You can have anonymous. I don’t mind anonymous American people having free speech. What I don’t like is anonymous Russians, Chinese and Iranians having free speech.”
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Later, her campaign told Real Clear Politics, “Americans have a right to free speech, including having anonymous accounts on social media.”
What Haley opposes, the statement continued, is allowing foreign bad actors to create anonymous accounts “to spread chaos and anti-American filth among our people.”
Haley then took a shot at GOP primary rival Gov. Ron DeSantis.
As the Tampa Free Press reported on Wednesday, the Florida governor slammed Haley for a “dangerous and unconstitutional” plan that failed to account for America’s founding history or the cancel culture afflicting conservatives who dare to speak out against liberal policies.
In response, Haley’s campaign accused DeSantis of wanting “to let Chinese propaganda machines run wild on social media without any restrictions.”
In an interview with Glenn Beck on Wednesday, DeSantis shot back that Haley was actually the one mirroring China by demanding full disclosure of everyone on social media.
“That is totally inappropriate for the United States of America,” DeSantis told Beck of Haley’s plan, partly because the cancel mob routinely comes for conservatives.
“There is a role for anonymous speech. The Federalist Papers were written anonymously by [James] Madison, [John] Jay, and [Alexander] Hamilton. That’s a long tradition in our country,” said DeSantis.
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DeSantis added that Haley’s plan would open the door for a Chinese-style social credit system.
“I just think it shows you don’t know what time it is if you’re saying, ‘We need your names on all this stuff.’ Honestly, I wasn’t surprised she said it because I think that’s just who she is,” said DeSantis.
“But it was totally out of bounds of what would be acceptable in the Republican Party.”
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