Only dictators ban the free press – yet Nikki Haley gags DailyMail.com simply for reporting a story she doesn’t like. So DAVID MARCUS demands: Is she running to be president of America… or a tinpot communist state?

Nikki Haley portrays herself as the adult in the room, but from this journalist’s perspective, she seems like nothing more than a petty, petulant, thin-skinned child.

Maybe even worse.

On Friday, Haley’s campaign pulled journalists from DailyMail.com from its New Hampshire rally — then informed the website, one of the largest English-language online news outlets in the world — that they will be banned from all future events.

It’s enough to make you wonder: Did anything happen to the former UN ambassador as she sat next to Russia, China and Iran?

That’s not how it works in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

So what happened so gruesome, so gruesome, so out of line that it deserved a campaign-level death sentence?

Nothing more than journalists doing their job.

Earlier Friday, DailyMail.com reported on exclusive new sources claiming Haley lied in 2010 when she denied having two alleged extramarital affairs.

The initial claims were based on the affidavits of Will Folks, 49, and Larry Marchant, 61.

The two South Carolina men allegedly had separate sexual relationships with Haley when she was a South Carolina lawmaker and before she became Palmetto State governor in 2011.

The new reporting — based on the claims of multiple Republican Party sources “highly aware” of the allegations — is that Haley’s alleged infidelity was common knowledge within South Carolina political circles.

So this week, following good journalist practice, DailyMail.com contacted the Haley campaign and offered them the opportunity to comment.

But instead of issuing an angry denial, or even any comment, Haley responded with an illiberal, un-American tantrum.

The question is: why don’t we respond to DailyMail.com and refute the new claims?

I cannot answer that question.

Furthermore, DailyMail.com is hardly hostile to Haley’s campaign.

On Wednesday, the site published an op-ed from the beloved TV courtroom judge: Judge Judy.

“It takes a lot out of me to support a candidate so strongly,” Judge Sheindlin wrote. “But Nikki Haley’s integrity, intelligence, energy and experience speak for themselves.”

Two South Carolina men are alleged to have had separate sexual relationships with Haley while she was a South Carolina state lawmaker and before she became Palmetto State governor in 2011. (Left) Larry Marchant Jr., 61, Columbia lobbyist (Right) Will Folks, 49 – Haley’s former communications consultant

Of course, one can understand why the governor would be personally upset by this reporting, but this unquestionably legitimate report goes straight to the heart of Haley’s raison d’être.

If proven true, the allegations will undermine one of her main talking points: that her husband’s service in the South Carolina Army National Guard is a driving force behind her flight.

“I do this for my husband and his military brothers and sisters. They need to know that their sacrifice matters,” Haley often says.

And that’s not all.

When asked during a debate whether Donald Trump had the “character” to be re-elected president, Haley said “moral clarity” is a prerequisite for the position.

You see, Mrs. Haley, this is a job interview. No coronation or a launching pad for your ambitions.

If you want to hold the same office as George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, you will face some tough and perhaps uncomfortable questions.

It is not the role of journalists to lick the boots of politicians.

It is our duty to hold your feet to the fire.

Haley has shown an authoritarian street. And this is not the first time she has moved towards despotic attacks.

Consider how Haley has called on social media companies to ban anonymous users from posting on their platforms. In the age of the digital town square, that is a horrifying prospect.

The question now is fair: What kind of government would Nikki Haley lead if she so recklessly tramples on the free press?

Donald Trump has called the media “the enemy of the people.” The evasive Joe Biden dodges journalists’ questions at almost every opportunity.

If proven true, the allegations will undermine one of her main talking points: that her husband’s (above, behind Haley) service in the South Carolina Army National Guard is a driving force behind her flight.

The Obama administration blatantly labeled Fox News Channel an illegitimate news organization, targeted journalists with wiretaps, and President Obama refused to appear on their programs.

Should we expect more of the same from President Haley?

No, journalists in America should take Friday’s events lightly – and in the past they have not.

“Donald Trump just barred Washington Post reporters from campaign events. That should bother you,” the Washington Post wrote in 2016.

What do you say now, WaPo?

This is a very dangerous game that Nikki Haley is playing.

If this is pettiness, it belies a childishness that has no place in the Oval Office.

If it’s strategy, it’s idiotic. It will have no impact whatsoever on the way honest journalists report her.

If this is cruel retaliation, then that is alarming.

Nikki’s knock-on is that she is a globalist puppet. If this isn’t a sign of tone-deaf elitism, I don’t know what is.

You can ban journalists from your events, Madam Ambassador. But you can never stop the American media from seeking the truth.

It’s a shame you even try.