‘Nikki Haley Has More Balls Than the Rest of Them’: CNN’s S.E. Cupp Applauds Candidate for Spirited Attacks on Trump

CNN’s S.E. Cupp showered Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley with praise for her refusal to drop out of the GOP primary race on Thursday, speculating that Haley might have “more balls” than the rest of her peers.

After Mike Leon suggested that Haley might drop out after the South Carolina primary if she’s embarrassed by a big loss  to Donald Trump in her home state, Cupp objected.

“That’s Trump’s gambit, that she’s going to be embarrassed in South Carolina. If she’s got nothing to lose and she still has buyers, so what?” asked Cupp. “She can keep going for a growing audience, an audience that might grow if every time there’s a primary they see, well, actually, the party isn’t coalesced around Trump. Actually, that’s not true, that’s, that’s a narrative, that’s his [Trump’s] spin. And by the way, Joe Biden’s spin because it’s beneficial to Joe Biden to get Nikki out of the race.”

A discussion over Haley’s campaign strategy — she’s been increasingly prone to making penetrating criticisms of Trump — ensued, with Phil Mattingly remarking that she’s adopted a “balanced approach” that eschews hysteria.

John Avlon subsequently argued that “Nikki Haley is showing some swagger on the stage.”

“That’s helpful. You always want to be a happy warrior in politics. And I think the broader message is we need to build a broad coalition to defend democracy right now. Nikki Haley is making that pitch. Democrats are going to make that pitch because it’s about independents and moderates at the end of the day and Donald Trump repels them, rightly,” he said.

That’s when Cupp jumped in to declare “Well, and maybe one of the only people that can sort of sidestep the great emasculation of the GOP by Donald Trump is a woman. Maybe, just maybe, Nikki Haley has more balls than the rest of them.”

Watch above via CNN.