President Biden’s campaign is using former President Donald Trump’s words against him as part of a push to win over voters who backed Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary.
Insisting Mr. Trump has made it clear he doesn’t want Haley’s supporters, Biden’s team is running a new advertisement in battleground states reminding viewers of the disparaging remarks Mr. Trump directed at Ms. Haley and how he wrote off most of her supporters.
“Birdbrain, I call her Birdbrain,” Mr. Trump says in the ad’s video. “Nikki Haley has made an unholy alliance with RINOs, never Trumpers, Americans for no prosperity.”
In other clips, Mr. Trump refers to her as “crazy” and a “very angry person” and downplays the impact her supporters will have on the November election.
“I’m not sure we need too many,” Mr. Trump says in response to a reporter asking how he will attract Haley supporters.
Mr. Biden started appealing to Haley supporters when she dropped out of the GOP nomination race after the March 5 Super Tuesday contests, saying he welcomes them to his campaign.
Mr. Trump’s response to her exit was more mixed.
He invited Haley supporters into his camp, but only after celebrating how he “trounced” her and after warning weeks earlier that anybody who contributed to her campaign would be barred from his Make America Great Again movement.
“Donald Trump has made it crystal clear he doesn’t want support from voters who cast their ballot for Nikki Haley, so let us be equally clear: There is a home for everyone on this campaign who knows Donald Trump cannot be back in the White House,” Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a press release.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.