Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is intensifying her defiance against Donald Trump’s attempts to force her out of the 2024 Republican primary race. She has been challenging the former president and urging her supporters to consider Trump’s attacks as a mark of distinction.
On her return to her home state on Wednesday, Haley satirized Trump’s victory speech in New Hampshire from the previous night. She described Trump as “insecure” and stated that he “should feel threatened, without a doubt.” She also questioned his mental competency, a tactic Trump and his allies have frequently used against President Joe Biden. Haley dared Trump to engage her in a one-on-one debate, saying, “Bring it, Donald. Show me what you got.”
Haley’s escalating criticism of Trump comes amid mounting pressure from many Republicans for her to withdraw from the 2024 primary race. This is to allow the party to rally around the former president, who is seeking a third consecutive nomination. Despite trailing Trump in South Carolina polls, Haley continues to be a significant irritant to the former president, inciting his wrath in ways that other 2024 Republican presidential contenders have not.
Haley’s campaign is preparing for Trump to overstep in his attacks on Haley, believing that these attacks will likely enhance her support in South Carolina. A campaign official stated that Trump’s attacks would be a “key piece” of Haley’s strategy to win over Palmetto State voters ahead of the February 24 primary.
Trump has shifted his perception of Haley from a primary rival to a full-blown enemy, according to sources close to the former president. He has also targeted Haley’s donors, warning that they will be “permanently barred” from his circle if they continue to support her campaign.
Haley’s campaign responded to these attacks by releasing T-shirts with the words “Barred. Permanently.” Haley also informed supporters in North Charleston that her campaign had already raised $1 million after her concession speech and Trump’s election night address in New Hampshire.
Trump’s recent attacks are an escalation of weeks of digs at Haley, who served as his US ambassador to the United Nations. He has already attacked Haley with a racist dog whistle, referring to her on Truth Social by her first name Nimarata, which he misspelled “Nimrada” and later “Nimbra.” He has also falsely suggested Haley is not eligible for the presidency.
Trump and his campaign had hoped that a win in New Hampshire would effectively end the GOP presidential primary. However, from Trump’s perspective, Haley is obstructing this plan. The Republican National Committee is considering a move to formally declare Trump the party’s presumptive 2024 nominee, even though he has not yet amassed the delegates needed to win the nomination.
Trump’s attempts to embarrass Haley were on display in New Hampshire. In the final days before the GOP primary there, Trump paraded a series of South Carolina Republican officials onstage at his rallies. For Trump’s victory speech Tuesday night, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a onetime presidential rival whom Haley appointed to the Senate in 2012, stood onstage behind Trump days after endorsing him.
Even as her campaign team plans for a monthlong fight in South Carolina, officials say Haley is gauging the support of donors and taking the temperature of longtime supporters about her path forward. Those private conversations could help influence any campaign decisions.
Biden campaign officials have been privately cheering on Haley’s decision to stay in the presidential race, sources say, as they monitor Trump lashing out at her. The Biden campaign account on Truth Social has amplified some of Haley’s ongoing attacks on Trump.
Haley and her supporters have embraced her status as a long-shot candidate, drawing connections to tough fights she has waged, and won, at the start of her political career in South Carolina.
The pressure Haley may have faced to drop out in 2010 is a fraction of the national pressure she’s facing now. The Republican Party has also changed dramatically since then. There is no Palin-figure whose endorsement might change the tide of the race – an overwhelming majority of South Carolina politicians, as well as national leaders, have fallen in line behind Trump. That hasn’t stopped Haley from attempting to get under his skin.
Contributors to this report include CNN’s Jeff Zeleny, Ebony Davis, Daniel Strauss, and Kristen Holmes.