Nikki Haley Takes It to Donald Trump - Rob Horowitz

Nikki Haley Takes It to Donald Trump - Rob Horowitz

As a smart woman who is completely unintimidated by the former president, Nikki Haley presents the kind of challenge that Donald Trump clearly doesn’t relish and often brings out the worst in him.  We have seen that dynamic play out in the past week, since the former South Carolina governor did well enough in New Hampshire to keep the fundraising spigots on and propel her candidacy forward in the several weeks that still remain before the next primary, taking place in her home state of South Carolina on February 24.

 

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While Mr. Trump bested Ms. Haley, 54% to 43% in New Hampshire, in cutting a nearly 20 percentage point gap in the last few polls before primary day nearly in half, she exceeded the expectations sufficiently to build at least a little more momentum for her campaign.  Nikki Haley also benefited primary night by Mr. Trump's ill-advised-- but completely on brand decision--to use nearly his entire primary night victory speech to attack her in vicious personal terms, even criticizing the dress she was wearing. 

 

This mistake was compounded by a Trump-orchestrated move in the wake of his primary victory to have the Republican National Committee declare him the presumptive nominee after only two states had voted.   Once it was obvious that it didn’t have the votes to pass, Mr. Trump disavowed it. The damage was already done, however, as Ms. Haley was able to position herself as the outsider taking on the establishment and standing up to Mr. Trump’s bullying tactics, garnering major media attention.   

 

The former president made matters worse by threatening the former South Carolina governor's donors, posting on Truth Social the following unintentional in-kind contribution to the Haley campaign: “Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp. We don’t want them, and will not accept them, because we Put America First, and ALWAYS WILL!” Predictably, donations to Ms. Haley spiked in response as she used it as a spur to her donors, and the post received the widespread negative media attention it so richly deserved.

 

Most importantly, as Nikki Haley has now fully emerged as the only remaining Republican alternative to Donald Trump, she has sharpened her direct attacks on the former president and doing so without seeming angry or particularly bothered by him. In fact, in a series of high-profile television appearances this past week, Ms. Haley came across as a “happy warrior" whose sense of optimism and energy serves as a potent contrast to the increasingly churlish and unhinged even for him former president.

 

On Meet the Press this past Sunday, for instance, Nikki Haley told Kristen Welker that she trusted the jury that found Mr. Trump liable for sexual abuse last year, as well as criticized him for playing the victim once again in response to the $83 million judgment for defaming the woman he sexually assaulted that was rendered by a separate jury against the former president this past Friday.  She also blasted Donald Trump for putting his own political interests ahead of securing the border in attempting to block the bipartisan border deal. In addition, she continued to raise concerns about the former president’s advanced age and current mental fitness.

To be certain, Donald Trump remains a solid, if not overwhelming, favorite to capture the Republican nomination.  Today, he is well-ahead of Nikki Haley in her home state of South Carolina and has nearly the entire state’s Republican political establishment with him.  Now that Nikki Haley has achieved her first campaign goal of creating a one-on-one match up with the former president, giving voters a clear binary choice, however, she is making the most of it.  

 

Even though South Carolina is her home state, the way most of the pundits and Republican party elected officials are counting her out, combined with Mr. Trump’s current lead, provides Ms. Haley with another opportunity to exceed expectations and build some more momentum going into Super Tuesday.  This not only gives her an outside shot at wrestling the nomination away from  Donald Trump; it guarantees that she will continue to give the former president fits.