GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley flubbed her praise of Iowa Hawkeyes basketballer Caitlin Clark—appearing to confuse her for a CNN anchor with a similar name during a local restaurant event ahead of the Hawkeyes game.
“We’re excited to see the Lady Hawkeyes team,” Haley said. “What a great coach they have. Kaitlan Collins is phenomenal.”
Collins is the host of CNN’s The Source, not Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark.
Haley’s critics seized on the confusion. “Unlike Haley, Caitlin Clark is great under pressure,” Never Back Down Deputy Communications Director Jess Szymanski tweeted.
Collins herself chimed in on the mix-up, writing on X: “I can assure you her free-throw percentage is much better than mine.”
The flub capped a rough week for Haley, who drew widespread criticism after she declined to name slavery as a cause of the Civil War before being labeled the “new John Kerry” by a 9-year-old.
