Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared Nikki Haley’s strategy for the Republican race for the White House is to “poison the well.” He said she is surviving only on the strength of “McCain, Romney Republicans.”
On Fox News’ “One Nation” Saturday with host Brian Kilmeade, DeSantis was asked about the startling lack of support for Haley in her home state of South Carolina.
A new survey released by Winthrop University on Wednesday showed Trump with an overpowering 72% of GOP backing in the Palmetto State. Further, 65% of likely voters chose the former president, a full 36 points higher than the native daughter.
DeSantis faced similar odds in his uphill battle to overtake Trump and wisely decided it is best to live to fight another day.
On Saturday, just days before the pivotal South Carolina primary, Kilmeade asked the Florida governor about the confrontational and nasty turn taken by Haley in the primary race. For example, she claimed that everything Trump touches, “we lose.”
Ron DeSantis accuses Nikki Haley of appealing to ‘liberal’ t-shirt wearers: ‘Core part of her strategy’ https://t.co/E1ioxpuhuL pic.twitter.com/nI9TI9hsV7
— New York Post (@nypost) February 19, 2024
He then aired clips showing Haley’s lashing out at the former president as she tried to increase her standing with the party faithful.
DeSantis correctly noted that about 80% of Republicans in Haley’s home state are “conservative, populist voters. And I think Nikki Haley, she’s really playing to the 20% who are more McCain, Romney Republicans.”
The governor succinctly observed that the GOP needs to unfold a big tent with everyone in. However, there is a danger that you could “really poison the well with the vast majority of Republican primary voters.”
He recalled his time on the ground in Iowa as Democrats appeared in droves to support Haley. “The thing was, there were 7,000 Democrats who showed up and switched to Republican on the night of the caucus…These were very liberal Democrats.”
How did DeSantis determine this? “They had N-95 masks on. They had shirts that had liberal slogans on.” He said unfortunately this was part of Haley’s core strategy.
DeSantis added that such a game plan is simply going to fail against a rival as well established — not to mention a former president — as Donald Trump.
