Jordan Klepper Visits A Sparse Haley Rally (And A MAGA-Sized Trump One)

By Andrew Sanford | TV | February 14, 2024 |

By Andrew Sanford | TV | February 14, 2024 |

The race to be GOP nominee for President is surprisingly still going. Nikki Haley is failing to move the MAGA needle even slightly. One might wonder why she is staying in the race when the Republican Party so clearly wants TFG as their nominee. Is she waiting to see if he’ll get arrested? Does she believe there’s a chance he might drop dead? Could she possibly think that she’ll win? Ask her supporters, and you’ll get an odd mix of answers.

That’s what The Daily Show correspondent and host for the rest of the week, Jordan Klepper, did. Klepper did what he does best and dragged himself to South Carolina to attend separate rallies for Haley and TFG. The Haley rally was tiny. Even in her home state, she can’t rile up the support necessary to win an election. Her supporters are digging in their heels, though. They seem to be as delusional as she is regarding her chances.

Speaking of delusional supporters! The MAGA rally Klepper attended was filled to the brim with the usual suspects. You have a few hypocrites. Some people like TFG for the “good he’s done” but can’t explain what that is. A few folks even said they want him to be a dictator! They’re just saying that now (I know they were before, but it feels much more casual now). Still, there were a few people there who were pushing back.

Klepper encountered a January 6th insurrectionist (by her admission) and a man who had dumped too much money into Trump bucks. They both seem to have come around on the wannabe dictator. They aren’t under his spell anymore! Kind of. The insurrectionist is still at the rally. The Trump Bucks guy is still laden in merch and having a hard time quitting TFG’s antics. Even the people breaking away can’t seem to do it.

This was one of the more fascinating Klepper segments in a while. I always like these segments, even if they can be exhausting, but it is interesting to see Haley’s flailing “resistance.” Watching a Trump rally spew out all the usual suspects is getting harder, but seeing the few cracks (as minuscule as they may be) is something I admittedly can’t look away from. This doesn’t fill me with hope (not that that’s Klepper’s job), but it does feel important to witness. Important and frustrating.