Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley relished being home in South Carolina on Wednesday, taking fresh digs at former President Donald Trump one day after her second-place finish in New Hampshire‘s 2024 Republican primary.
Haley, a former two-term governor, tailored her remarks to the more familiar crowd, relative to her audiences in the other GOP early nominating states of Iowa and New Hampshire, but she repeated her push for Trump to debate before South Carolina’s contest on Feb. 24.
“Bring it, Donald! Show me what you got,” she said Wednesday in North Charleston.
Haley, who detailed her political record and outlined her policy hopes, was similarly defiant when she reflected on the outcome in New Hampshire amid increasing pressure for her to drop out of the race. The former president defeated Haley in New Hampshire by 11 points on Tuesday night.
She underscored how she had raised $1 million since then but overlooked Trump’s popularity in South Carolina, where he holds an average advantage over her of more than 30 percentage points. As she started speaking, the Trump campaign even sent reporters an email promoting the former president’s new endorsements in the Palmetto State.
“Donald Trump got out there and just threw a temper tantrum,” Haley said of Trump’s victory speech in New Hampshire. “He was doing what he does, but I know that’s what he does when he’s insecure. I know that’s what he does when he is threatened, and he should feel threatened.”
“After everything he said in his rant, he didn’t talk about the American people once,” she added. “He talked about revenge.”
As President Joe Biden has been since the Israel–Hamas war began, Haley was disrupted by a pro-Palestinian demonstrator.
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“I never mind protesters like that because my husband and his military brothers and sisters sacrifice for us every day for them to be able to do that,” she said.
Haley’s appearance in North Charleston comes after a tele-rally with supporters in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Wednesday morning. She additionally has scheduled stops in Mauldin and Conway, South Carolina, this weekend, supplemented by two new TV advertisements in the state, part of a $4 million investment.
