Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley blundered the name of a University of Iowa basketball star during a tailgate event Saturday.
Haley was in Coralville, Iowa, ahead of the Hawkeyes’s women’s basketball game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. According to reporter Tom Barton, Haley was attempting to complement the team, its coach, and its star guard, Caitlin Clark, when she called the guard by the wrong name.
.@nikkihaley flubs Caitlin Clark’s name at “Lady Hawkeye’s Tailgate” event in Coralville. Haley will attend the women’s game this afternoon. “So we’re super excited” to see the Iowa women, Haley says. “What a team they are. What a great coach. … Caitlin Collins is phenomenal.” pic.twitter.com/fqp1H1Ii2Z
— Tom Barton (@tjbarton83) December 30, 2023
“What a team they are. What a great coach,” Haley said. “Kaitlin Collins is phenomenal.”
Another reporter on the scene, Veronica Stracqualursi, shared Barton’s post on X, formerly known as Twitter, as if to add her own confirmation of the flub. The Washington Examiner has reached out to Haley’s campaign and Iowa’s athletic communications for confirmation.
CNN anchor Kaitlin Collins responded to the mistake on X.
“I can assure you her free-throw percentage is much better than mine,” Collins wrote.
Barton later posted a video of Haley arriving at the game with her son, Nalin.
Iowa’s caucus is the first in the nation, slated for Jan. 15. As a result, Republican candidates are scrambling to perform well in the state, and Haley’s opponents have made several stops in the state, including at other sporting events. Currently, Haley is in third place at 16%, according to a December Des Moines Register-NBC News-Mediacom Iowa poll, trailing behind Donald Trump, who has 51%, and DeSantis at 19%.
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Haley is fresh off the heels of controversy when, during a town hall in New Hampshire, she was asked about what started the Civil War, and she failed to mention slavery. The state is where the nation’s first primary takes place next month
The Lady Hawkeyes team is currently ranked fourth. Clark has the highest scoring and assists per game in NCAA Division I history with 43 games where she scored 30-point games. This is the most games within the last 25 basketball seasons.
