Nikki Haley is not my favorite presidential candidate. She is not quite conservative enough for me. But she just went up a notch or two in my estimation. When fellow debater Vivek Ramaswamy brought up Haley’s daughter and her supposed use of TikTok, Haley reacted with anger – some would say over-reacted – by calling Vivek “scum.” This caused me to smile broadly.

I wondered why this brief episode had impressed me. Then it came to me. It was reminiscent of actor Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock for Rock making fun of a physical disability of Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. In effect, both Will Smith and Nikki Haley were saying, “Mess with my people, expect a smack.”

You could call that the Will Smith Rule. Donald Trump is a strong proponent of that rule, Perhaps that is why no one seriously messed with his people during the four years of his presidency. Perhaps that is why Hamas now holds an uncertain number of American hostages. Perhaps that is a key qualification for president: Adherence to the Will Smith Rule.

Haley calls Ramaswamy ‘scum’: ‘Leave my daughter out of your voice’