You had to do a double-take last night when Nikki Haley took the podium to address her supporters after finishing a dismal third in Iowa. Pollster Ann Selzer had the former South Carolina governor surging but noted the abysmal voter enthusiasm surrounding Nimrata. So, why would someone who finished third say something like this: “I can safely say tonight, Iowa made the Republican primary a two-person race.”
— The Right To Bear Memes (@grandoldmemes) January 16, 2024
Leah wrote about Haley trying to clarify her remarks today:
“First of all, look at where we started: I mean, when we started, there were 14 people in the race. We had 2 percent in the polls and we came out with a strong showing,” she replied.
“That’s what we wanted in Iowa, now we’re in New Hampshire,” Haley continued. “You can look at the polls in New Hampshire—we’re a stone’s throw away from Donald Trump and so we’re going to continue to work really hard. We’ve been here for 11 months, we’ve done over 75 town halls…we know that that gave us the strength coming out of Iowa, we’re going to get even stronger in New Hampshire going to South Carolina.”
This woman loves to clarify, probably because she needs to gauge where the political winds are blowing. She wanted to ban some activity on social media, specifically the creation of anonymous accounts, which would be weeded out with verification technology, most likely biometric data, which the tech companies would’ve loved. Even from her supporters, the reaction to this creepy Orwellian public policy pitch led to her walking it back.
She didn’t clarify her Iowa remarks; she stuck to the script and still looked like an idiot. Lady, when you finish third and say it’s a two-person race, you’re talking about the other people. Does Nikki need a drug test?
Haley campaign memo:
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) January 16, 2024
Trump predicted a 60 point victory. “He won by 30%. In a state in which caucus voters are among the most pro-Trump of any electorate in America, he got 51%, and 49% preferred someone else.”
“The race now moves to less Trump-friendly territory.”
Post-Iowa Campaign Memo from Haley Campaign Manager Betsy Ankney is below.
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) January 16, 2024
Top line: "As race moves to New Hampshire, the choice before voters is clear: the rematch no one wants between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, or a new generation of conservative leadership with Nikki Haley." pic.twitter.com/naKaQM5B0a
But let’s be nice to Nikki for a second—maybe she was referring to the upcoming New Hampshire primary next Tuesday, where some polls show her within striking distance of Trump. Then again, pollsters showed her surging in Iowa and came in third. Her campaign’s memo about New Hampshire being less Trump-friendly is also not correct: Trump won New Hampshire in 2016. If one thing has remained constant, the former president remains popular with the base. Also, let’s not kid ourselves: if Trump is the nominee, most DeSantis and Haley supporters will follow suit. Let’s cut the crap about primary divisions. The 2016 GOP field was splintered to hell, and everyone came together for the general. The same goes for Mitt Romney, who was not the Tea Party’s favorite candidate, but the base united in 2012. I can’t say the same thing for Trump’s folks. If the former president fails to re-clinch the nomination, they’ll likely sit 2024 out. Luckily, that’s not going to happen.
In the meantime, even left-leaning publications, like Politico, are mocking Haley’s remarks, saying she’s trying to will a two-person race into existence. Her first step is to decline all debates until Trump joins [emphasis mine]:
Of course, New Hampshire may provide a less hospitable electorate for Trump. But his allies are planning to go all out against Haley in the final week before the first-in-the-nation primary, NBC’s Natasha Korecki, Matt Dixon and Jane Timm report. It’ll be “a level of vitriol … that she hasn’t yet seen,” though Haley plans to step up her Trump criticisms, too.
[…]
Perhaps counterintuitively, Haley — who has benefited like no other candidate from the primary debates this cycle — announced this morning that she’ll refuse to participate in any more without Trump or President JOE BIDEN on the stage, per Kierra Frazier. “We’ve had five great debates in this campaign. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them,” she said in a statement. “He has nowhere left to hide.”
Haley’s surprise move a day after finishing third in Iowa threatens to torpedo two planned Granite State debates, from ABC News/WMUR-TV on Thursday and CNN on Sunday. Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS lashed out on X, calling Haley “afraid” to debate him and saying he would “honor my commitments.”
But it’s not clear where the TV networks can go from here. An ABC News spokesperson said they’ve given Trump and Haley a formal deadline of 5 p.m. today to commit to Thursday’s debate.
If she doesn’t show up, maybe DeSantis should use those entire blocks to pitch and punch at will.
UPDATE: Thursday's debate has been canceled.