Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley was called out for her own hypocrisy after she complained about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani urging residents to conserve energy amid a heat wave, only for people to point out that she asked people to do the same when she was in office.
Mamdani—whom the New York Post recently accused of "violating dress code rules" when he jumped into a public pool without removing his suit and tie—has kept New Yorkers in the loop as much of the United States experiences an intense heat wave to rival the ongoing one in Europe.
In one social media post, he advised residents to conserve energy, writing:
"New York: it's hot out there, and the power grid is working overtime to keep us cool. Set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you're not using, and unplug what you can."
"Our City is doing its part too: maintaining the 78 degrees rule in our buildings, dimming/turning off our lights during peak electricity demand, asking private partners to do the same, and powering down non-essential equipment."
"A stable grid means the AC stays on, and lives are saved. Let's ease demand — and get through the heat — together."
You can see Mamdani's post below.
Haley was no fan of this, writing:
"Welcome to socialism."
You can see her post below.
It didn't take long for critics to dig up an old post in which Haley herself urged residents to cut back on their electricity use during a cold snap to ease pressure on the power grid. In the 2015 message, Haley asked people to "set your thermostat at 68 or lower," saying the collective effort would help "avoid any power outages during this time."
You can see the post below.
Nikki Haley/Facebook
It was clear Haley was looking to score some internet points in attacking Mamdani, a democratic socialist whose mayoral win amounted to a seismic win for progressives that has reverberated across the country and already borne fruit in recent primary elections.
People were quick to call out her hypocrisy.
Requests like Mamdani's—or the similar appeal Haley herself made years earlier, which she now appears to have forgotten—are a routine way to help prevent power outages during periods of extreme demand. Look at Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX)—no socialist he—call on Texans to do the same back in 2021.
When nearly every air conditioner is running at full capacity, electricity consumption can exceed the grid's generating capacity, forcing utilities to implement rolling blackouts. While those temporary outages are designed to prevent a complete system collapse, they also leave people without air conditioning and other essential electrical services during dangerously hot weather.
According to the Energy Policy and Innovation Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology, "voluntary requests for conservation in the United States are part of the standard energy emergency playbook and go back at least to President Carter’s request for Americans to reduce heating temperatures during the 1977 energy crisis."
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