Former President Donald Trump is directing more of his political firepower at Nikki Haley in hopes of zapping the momentum she’s carrying into the opening GOP nomination contests.
After waging an unrelenting war against Ron DeSantis, Mr. Trump and his allies have turned some of their attention toward slowing Ms. Haley’s rise. They’re questioning the former South Carolina governor’s core convictions and casting her as soft on immigration.
“Record numbers streaming across our borders costing taxpayers billions and almost as many Americans killed from fentanyl as killed in World War II, and yet Haley and Biden opposed Trump’s border wall,” the narrator says in a Trump campaign ad airing in New Hampshire. “Confirmed warnings of terrorists sneaking in through our southern border, yet Haley joined Biden in opposing Trump’s visitor ban from terrorist nations.”
“Haley’s weakness puts us in grave danger. Trump’s strength protects us,” the narrator says.
A pro-Trump super PAC also started running an ad last month accusing Ms. Haley of flip-flopping on her home state’s gas tax.
Mr. Trump has dominated the GOP race, with a 30-point polling lead over his chief rivals — Mr. DeSantis and Ms. Haley — in Iowa, where the Jan. 15 caucuses open the presidential contests.
The race in New Hampshire has been more fluid.
Ms. Haley has been making up ground on Mr. Trump since early October, but she still trails by 20 points ahead of the Jan. 23 primary.
Responding to the latest Trump attack, the pro-Haley super PAC SFA Fund Inc. said the former president is starting to sweat.
“President Trump has at best a 50-50 chance of beating Joe Biden, but he’s nervous he won’t even get that opportunity as conservatives are rallying around Nikki Haley, who, according to a Wall Street Journal poll, is leading Joe Biden by 17 points,” said Brittany Yanick, an SFA spokeswoman. “In the coming weeks, Republicans have a clear choice: They can either roll the dice on Donald Trump or pick the candidate who will definitively defeat Joe Biden in 2024 — Nikki Haley.”
Ms. Haley also is pushing back against the gas tax attack.
“My friend President Trump has been giving me attention, and I appreciate that,” she said at a recent campaign stop in Iowa. “But he’s lying about me too. … I never once raised taxes when I was governor. President Trump proposed in front of all of you raising the gas tax 25 cents back in 2018.”
She added this shot: “He put us $8 trillion in debt in just four years, and our kids will never forgive us for that.”
Ms. Haley is hoping a solid performance in Iowa combined with a stronger-than-expected showing in New Hampshire will help turn the race into a one-on-one battle with Mr. Trump.
Trump allies, meanwhile, are raising concerns that his campaign should have taken Ms. Haley more seriously earlier in the race.
Now they’re worried the anti-Trump, establishment forces rallying behind Ms. Haley are focused on trying to make her vice president, giving them a toehold in his administration if he wins the election.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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