Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced this week she is running for president, making her the only Republican thus far to challenge Donald Trump for the GOP nomination.
Predictably, the 45th president was quick to unleash a number of attacks against her.
First, the Trump campaign sent an email after her announcement attacking Haley as a “career politician.”
“She started out as a Never Trumper before resigning to serve in the Trump admin,” said Taylor Budowich, head of Make America Great Again Inc. “She then resigned early to go rake in money on corporate boards. Now, she’s telling us she represents a ‘new generation.’ Sure just looks like more of the same, a career politician whose only fulfilled commitment is to herself.”
Another email followed, hitting Haley on several points.
The Real Nikki Haley pic.twitter.com/BcW8doC3rt
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) February 15, 2023
As our colleagues at RedState point out, the quote from Haley about Hillary Clinton being an inspiration was taken completely out of context, as the full quote shows she was inspired not by her politics, but by the fact that she encouraged women to run for office.
In a 2012 interview with the New York Times, Haley was asked why there are "so few women of your generation in high level politics."
"It’s not because the challenge is too hard. It’s simply because women don’t run," she responded. "The reason I actually ran for office is because of Hillary Clinton. Everybody was telling me why I shouldn’t run: I was too young, I had small children, I should start at the school board level. I went to Birmingham University, and Hillary Clinton was the keynote speaker on a leadership institute, and she said that when it comes to women running for office, there will be everybody that tells you why you shouldn’t but that’s all the reasons why we need you to do it, and I walked out of there thinking 'That’s it. I’m running for office.'"
After telling Fox News he was "glad" she was running, Trump later attacked Haley on Truth Social.
"I'm glad she’s running. I want her to follow her heart — even though she made a commitment that she would never run against who she called the greatest president of her lifetime," said former President Donald Trump. https://t.co/T4pvzPVZms
— The Hill (@thehill) February 15, 2023
"The greatest thing Nikki Haley did for our Country, and the Great State of South Carolina, was accepting the position of United Nations Ambassador so that the incredible then Lieutenant Governor, Henry McMaster, could be Governor of South Carolina, where he has done an absolutely fantastic job," Trump wrote. "That was a big reason why I appointed Nikki to the position—It was a favor to the people I love in South Carolina!"
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