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.
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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.
