Nikki Haley dashes Colbert's Senate dreams

In a Facebook post, the South Carolina governor shoots down Colbert's hope of replacing Jim DeMint

Published December 9, 2012 6:47PM (EST)

   (The Colbert Report)
(The Colbert Report)
Gov. Nikki Haley, R-S.C., shot down Stephen Colbert's dreams of replacing Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., joking that it was because "You didn't know our state drink. Big, big mistake."
In a Facebook post, Haley, addressed the calls for Colbert to replace Sen. Jim DeMint, who announced last week that he was leaving his seat in January to take a job as chair of the Heritage Foundation. Haley, who must appoint DeMint's successor until a special election can be held in 2014, wrote in the post:
Stephen, thank you for your interest in South Carolina's U.S. Senate seat and for the thousands of tweets you and your fans sent me.
But you forget one thing, my friend.
You didn't know our state drink. Big, big mistake.
Haley was referring to her April appearance on The Colbert Report, when Stephen didn't know that milk was the state's official drink. Haley, for her part, was stumped by Colbert's question about the state amphibian - the spotted salamander.
On his show last week, Colbert told his fans to tweet at Haley with the hashtag #SenatorColbert to urge Haley to appoint him. “When I look at the U.S. Senate, I say to myself, you know what they could use?” Colbert said. “Another white guy.”
Here's the video from Thursday's show:

By Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com.

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Jim Demint Nikki Haley South Carolina Stephen Colbert The Colbert Report Video