Nikki Haley attacks ‘chaotic’ Donald Trump as Republican race heats up
Donald Trump challenger Nikki Haley has launched a stinging attack on her rivals for the Republican US presidential nomination as she rides her rise in the polls.
Nikki Haley has launched a stinging attack on her rivals for the Republican US presidential nomination, telling supporters in New Hampshire – a state some backers say she must win – that it is time for a new generation of leaders.
The former governor of South Carolina, 51, has enjoyed a recent bounce in the polls.
She has emerged as a serious challenger after strong performances in Republican debates and as moderates in the party scramble to find an alternative to Donald Trump, still the overwhelming favourite to be picked to take on President Joe Biden.
With the Iowa caucus less than a fortnight away, and the New Hampshire primary on January 23, Ms Haley’s broadsides come as Republican voters prepare to pick their candidate.
“Republicans have lost seven out of the last eight popular votes in presidential elections,” she said in a bar in the New Hampshire town of Londonderry.
“It’s time for a new generation. Another truth is that Trump was the right president at the right time but rightly or wrongly chaos follows him everywhere. We can’t be a country in disarray in a world that’s on fire – we won’t survive that.”
The line of attack went down well with primary voters. “I can’t cope with the chaos of another Trump-Biden election,” Cliff Johnson, 64, a retired truck driver, said. “And we’ve got to avoid another Trump presidency.
“She’s taking the campaign to them now and that’s good. A lot of my friends are Trump supporters and even some of them are coming around to her.”
Ms Haley has up until now only jabbed at her opponents. She annoyed Mr Trump, 77, by insisting that elected officials older than 75 should face compulsory mental competency tests.
Her opprobrium has been reserved mostly for Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, who has questioned her probity and intelligence. Mr Ramaswamy’s challenge has faded in recent weeks.
But Ms Haley, who served in Mr Trump’s cabinet, has found herself increasingly in the crosshairs of her rivals.
In a sign that Mr Trump has become wary of the threat she poses, the former president has given her a nickname: “High Tax Haley” was tested last month.
He fired a further salvo at her this week, attacking her record on immigration, claiming she would be weak on border security.
Changing her nickname to “Open Border Nikki”, Mr Trump’s campaign said in an email to supporters: “Nikki Haley has shown her true colours as her disastrous record on immigration is now coming to light for everybody to see. At a time when record numbers of illegals are crossing the border on a daily basis, Haley has proven she will stand AGAINST America First values that would stop terrorists from flooding across America’s borders.”
Ms Haley said this week she was getting “a lot of attention” from Mr Trump. “I’ve seen his commercials and his tantrums,” she said.
“The problem is none of it is true. What is true is that Trump increased the national debt by $US8 trillion ($12tn). Our kids will never forgive us for that.”
In national polls Ms Haley has drawn level with Ron DeSantis, 45, the governor of Florida whose lacklustre campaign has frustrated those looking for an alternative to a third consecutive White House run by Mr Trump.
Ms Haley and Mr DeSantis know that with Mr Trump well clear in most polls, they are probably fighting for second place and the hope that Mr Trump’s multiple legal worries might derail his campaign.
Early Thursday AEDT the former president asked the US Supreme Court to review a decision taken in Colorado last month to ban him from taking part in the state’s primary.
The state’s supreme court ruled in favour of an application over section three of the 14th amendment to the US constitution that prohibits those who “engaged in insurrection” from standing for office.
Mr Trump is asking the Supreme Court, which has never ruled on the 14th amendment, to reverse the Colorado ruling without even hearing arguments.
Despite rising in the New Hampshire polls to register 25 per cent in an average of surveys, up from 4 per cent at the end of August, Ms Haley has shown a degree of naivety that her rivals have looked to exploit.
Asked by a voter about the causes of the American civil war, she failed to mention slavery. She later clarified her comments, saying that “of course” slavery was at root of the conflict, but she reportedly made similar gaffes in a 2010 speech.
The Times
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