When Foreign Policy Experience Becomes Undead
Nikki Haley, forever trapped in political limbo between her Republican past and whatever she’s trying to be now, showed up to Halloween 2025 dressed as a zombie diplomat. The costume featured a torn business suit, theatrical blood, and a UN badge, creating a look that screams “my political career died but I refuse to accept it.”
The zombie diplomat costume is either incredibly self-aware or completely accidental, and with Haley, it’s genuinely hard to tell. She’s spent the past few years trying to navigate the impossible space between Trump Republicans and everyone else, resulting in a political identity that’s essentially undeadnot quite alive, not quite gone, just shambling forward hoping someone will care.
Haley’s zombie costume perfectly captures her current political status: a former governor and UN ambassador whose relevance died somewhere around 2023 but who keeps showing up to events anyway. It’s method acting at its finest, though probably unintentional.
The UN badge detail is particularly choice. Haley’s time as UN Ambassador was the highlight of her resume, back when she had a resume people cared about. Now she’s a zombie wearing a badge from a job she left years ago, which is basically her entire political brand. Someone’s costume designer deserves a raise for this level of accidental symbolism.
Political observers noted the costume’s accuracy with the kind of schadenfreude usually reserved for watching someone slip on ice. “She’s literally dressed as her political career,” tweeted one analyst, capturing what everyone was thinking but most were too polite to say. In fairness to Haley, at least she’s leaning into it.
Haley’s political future remains uncertain, much like whether zombies are technically alive or dead. She’s in that weird space where she’s too anti-Trump for MAGA Republicans and too Republican for everyone else. The zombie costume works because zombies also don’t fit neatly into living or dead categories. Again, this is probably accidental, but it’s perfect.
The costume appeared at a charity event in South Carolina, where Haley still maintains some relevance among people who remember when she was governor. Attendees reported she stayed in character all night, shambling around making diplomatic small talk and refusing to acknowledge her political career’s obvious demise. Truly committed performance art.
Political zombies are a recognized phenomenonpoliticians whose careers should be over but who refuse to leave the stage. Haley joining their ranks is fitting, and dressing as one for Halloween shows at least some level of self-awareness, even if it’s buried under layers of political calculation and designer gore makeup.
The real question is whether this costume is a cry for help or a power move. Is Haley saying “my career is dead and I know it” or is she saying “I’m undead and therefore unkillable”? The answer probably lies somewhere in between, much like her political positions on literally everything.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/nikki-haley%c2%92s-diplomatic-zombie/0
SOURCE: Sarah Pappalardo (https://bohiney.com/nikki-haley%c2%92s-diplomatic-zombie/0)
