Nikki Haley Called 'Condescending, Catty' By Columnist

A columnist for the South Carolina Post and Courier accused Governor Nikki Haley of stooping to a "condescending, catty low" for her comments about a female reporter from the same paper.

Haley recently came under fire for calling Post and Courier reporter Renee Dudley a "little girl" during an appearance on Laura Ingraham's radio show.

On air, the Republican governor was critical of an article written by Dudley about a weeklong trip Haley took to Europe, which was funded by the state's taxpayers. In reference to the reporter, she said "God bless that little girl at the Post and Courier. I mean her job is to try and create conflict. My job is to create jobs. In the end I'm going to have jobs to show for it."

The columnist, Melanie Balog, hit back at Haley for her personal attack on Dudley:

No working professional should ever demean another working professional like that.

Let alone in public.

Let alone on broadcast radio.

And especially, certainly, absolutely not the state's first female governor talking about another woman.

On Friday, Haley said she regretted the comment.

"The story painted a grossly inaccurate picture and was unprofessionally done, but my `little girl' comment was inappropriate and I regret that," Haley said. "Everyone can have a bad day. I'll forgive her bad story, if she'll forgive my poor choice of words."

Comments

[cheeriogirl]

12:08 AM on 09/14/2011

Can anyone say "deflection"? Seriously, is anyone talking about Haley's ABUSE of her "claimed" conservatism position any longer?

I didn't think so.

How about we redirect the focus back onto what NIKKI did to "get this party started"?

[AnonymousDissenter]

10:34 AM on 09/13/2011

This is what self-loathing means, right here. When a member of an oppressed class is willing to use bigoted language against members of the same class, because they think it will endear them to their oppressors.

[notakochdealer]

09:30 PM on 09/12/2011

Dudley's article was fine and a just article.

[duncansdad]

08:31 PM on 09/12/2011

Not only does Haley need some manners (I thought southerners were big on manners?) but she needs to learn how to apologize properly.

[Larkin31]

08:09 PM on 09/12/2011

The gender in the remark is not relevant. It is simply unbecoming of a governor to call any other adult a "boy" or a "girl" simply for irritating him/her. That it was a woman calling another woman a "girl" is meaningless to me, unless you want to say that it would somehow be more acceptable to have called a male reporter a "little boy." They seem exactly equal in their inappropriateness to me.

[AnonymousDissenter]

10:35 AM on 09/13/2011

If you aren't a woman, then I doubt you understand why the little girl remark was sexist.

[Clevelandinwi]

07:55 PM on 09/12/2011

This IS nikki halie! Get used to it.

[climbing panda]

07:04 PM on 09/12/2011

still a better apology than any msnbc host has been forced to utter.

[Proximate Cause]

07:51 PM on 09/12/2011

You don't watch much MSNBC.

[climbing panda]

08:15 PM on 09/12/2011

just the apologies posted on HP. i choose not to have cable so i don't watch cable news.

[Janicot]

08:12 PM on 09/12/2011

MSBNC host Ed Schultz apologized profusely on air to Laura Ingraham for comments he made on his radio show (not on MSNBC) and then voluntarily suspended himself for two weeks before the network even had a chance to review the particulars.

[Boomerwoman]

06:55 PM on 09/12/2011

Nicki, it wasn't a bad story. It is called "journalism", in which professionals write about what is happening. Now you, on the other hand, are just another astonishingly awful public servant in the state of South Carolina, whose voters seem to vote with their hormones and not their brains.

[bertha112]

06:42 PM on 09/12/2011

The apology was worse than the original comment.

D.A.M.N Ms. Haley, why even bother? (see how using the word D.A.M.N makes my comment even worse)

[canoeboundaryh20]

06:40 PM on 09/12/2011

Haley's apology was worst than her first insult.

[free speech isnt free]

06:05 PM on 09/12/2011

She should regret more than her words:

South Carolina ranked in 48th in unemployme­­­nt. http://mon­­­ey.cnn.c­o­m­/pf/fe­at­ur­es/l­ist­s/s­ta­te_u­nemp­­loyme­nt/

In wages South Carolina is ranked 47th. http://www­­­.census.­g­o­v/stat­ab­/r­anks­/ra­nk2­9.­html 47

In cancer, causing chemicals in drinking water South Carolina is ranked #1.

http://hom­­­e.comcas­t­.­net/~d­av­idalud­­der­/Pollu­t­io­n_Ran­kin­g­s_By­_Stat­­e.p­df

[mcmutter]

06:55 PM on 09/12/2011

they don't need a DEP .... having six fingers is quite normal down south ..... as is working for nothing .....

[RC81]

05:36 PM on 09/12/2011

"I'll forgive her bad story, if she'll forgive my poor choice of words."

The un-apology just amplified her childishne­ss. She's no different than palin or bachmann when they royally screw up. They don't have the character to own up to their mistakes like adults.

[connie o]

05:21 PM on 09/12/2011

It always seems odd to me that females are attacked in a personal manner instead of professionally but it is especially odd for one female to attack another in that manner. Haley has apologized for her comment but she can't hide the fact that she believed that the comment was appropriate in the first place.

[tj101]

04:43 PM on 09/12/2011

So I guess Nikki Haley doesn't believe in a transparent government.

Odd.....

[mcmutter]

04:40 PM on 09/12/2011

another petty republican woman ....

[RC81]

05:34 PM on 09/12/2011

Yes the "Parade of the Twinkies" keeps growing and growing.