Indian American Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is becoming the standard-bearer of the movement to knock out former President and her one-time boss Donald Trump, according to a media report.
Haley, the first Indian American to serve in a presidential cabinet as US ambassador to the UN under Trump has drawn a surge in support from Trump-skeptical Republicans across the party, including donors and organizers in early voting states, Politico reported.
READ: Nikki Haley emerges second to Trump in New Hampshire poll (November 15, 2023)
A group of former Tim Scott donors is preparing to host a fundraiser for her in Manhattan. Haley’s campaign events in New Hampshire this week required overflow rooms.
And in Iowa — where Haley has steeper competition from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — some conservatives are busy corralling support for her, the political news outlet said.
“Nikki Haley is certainly locking up a lot of the Never Trumpers,” Matthew Bartlett, a Republican operative who has worked on several presidential campaigns and is unaffiliated this cycle was quoted as saying. “She also has real room to grow.”
READ: Fundamental ideological divide with Haley: Vivek Ramaswamy (November 14, 2023)
Donors getting ready to host Haley in New York on Dec 4 include two people close to Paul Singer, the hedge fund billionaire who has been critical of Trump.
Greg Wendt, a former Scott supporter who has donated to moderate, anti-Trump Republicans such as John Kasich and John McCain, is now expressing interest in Haley, Politico said citing an unnamed New York City-based Republican fundraiser.
And Doug Gross, a Republican operative who was the Iowa GOP nominee for governor in 2002, told Politico he plans to caucus for Haley after surveying the field for months in search of an alternative to Trump.
“Never Trumpers and ‘Anybody but Trumpers’ are really consolidating around her from a financial standpoint,” Gross, who was chief of staff to former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, was quoted as saying
Haley is benefiting from this recent surge of support. She is now polling ahead of DeSantis in New Hampshire, the first primary state, and in her home state of South Carolina, Politico noted. One recent survey showed her running neck and neck with DeSantis in Iowa.
READ: Nikki Haley beats all the boys in third Republican debate (November 9, 2023)
Alyssa Farah Griffin, a co-host of “The View” and former Trump White House aide who has been critical of the former president’s candidacy, described Haley as “hands down the best option to beat Trump.”
Haley is trying to widen her “extraordinarily narrow path” by appealing to both the MAGA base and the rest of the Republican Party, as well as to its far-right conservatives and more moderate voters, Politico suggested.
In the aftermath of the 2021 riot at the Capitol, she oscillated between condemning Trump for decisions he made in the White House, to later declaring that conservatives “need him in the Republican Party,” it noted.
“Now on the trail, Haley has sought to hold space for everyone’s feelings about Trump, repeatedly saying that he was ‘the right president at the right time,’ but criticizing aspects of his foreign policy and personality.” Politico said. Even if she is drawing the support of “Never Trump” Republicans, she isn’t campaigning like one.
At the moment, it appears to be working, and Haley is about to unleash a torrent of advertising in the final run-up to the early state contests, it said. The Haley camp is currently leading the rest of the field with upcoming television ad reservations.
From Thanksgiving week through the Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary, the top two groups to reserve ad time are the Haley campaign and her super PAC, Stand for America Fund Inc.
The Haley campaign so far has booked $4.2 million worth of ads from now to then in Iowa and New Hampshire, while SFA Fund has reserved $3.8 million, Politico said citing the tracking firm AdImpact.
READ: Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy clash over Israel-Hamas war (October 15, 2023)
Haley’s campaign announced it plans to reserve a total of $10 million in television, radio and digital ads in the first two states.
While people in DeSantis’ inner circle downplay Haley’s rise, NBC reported Tuesday that the super PAC closely aligned with the Florida governor’s campaign is pulling anti-Haley ads in Iowa because they aren’t well received.
Haley and her campaign are now taking a victory lap, openly claiming ownership of the No. 2 spot in the race, one that belonged exclusively to DeSantis for months, Politico.
“There is a growing consensus that Nikki Haley is the best challenger to take on Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” Olivia Perez-Cubas, Haley’s spokesperson, told Politico. “This is a two-person race — between one man and one woman.”