Haley blasts DeSantis to be top Trump alternative

Indian American leaders in Iowa say they feel abandoned by Haley: NYT

Vying to become the top alternative to former President Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee, Indian American candidate Nikki Haley and rival Florida governor Ron DeSantis exchanged barbs calling each other liars.

During their one-on-one CNN debate Wednesday night in Des Moines, just five nights from the Iowa caucuses, DeSantis called Haley a “mealy mouthed politician.” Haley shot back saying DeSantis’ campaign “is exploding.”

But they largely ignored Trump, who maintains a massive lead in Iowa and national Republican primary polls, in the debate’s opening moments.

READ: Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis set for first head-to-head debate (January 10, 2024)

The debate – hours after another 2024 contender, former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie, dropped out of the race – left only the two to slug it out.

Neither Christie nor the two other remaining Republicans, Indian American businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, qualified for Wednesday’s showdown.

Trump himself again skipped the debate for a Fox News townhall.

On issue after issue — China, Ukraine, taxes, education, immigration — DeSantis argued that while Haley claims to be a conservative, she’s really just “another mealy-mouthed politician who tells you what she thinks you want to hear just to get into office and then do her donors’ bidding.”

READ: Nikki Haley slashes Trump’s lead in New Hampshire (January 9, 2024)

But whenever DeSantis launched a broadside about Haley’s reliability on topics ranging from school choice to abortion to LGBTQ rights — she called it false and steered viewers to DeSantisLies.com.

“Every time he lies, Drake University, don’t turn this into a drinking game,” Haley quipped in the opening minutes, “because you will be over served by the end of the night.”

Haley, who entered Wednesday’s debate as the only Trump challenger with any real momentum, as also DeSantis finally did come to criticise the former president a bit.

Nikki Haley gaining ground in New Hampshire: poll (December 24, 2023)

“That election, Trump lost it. Biden won the election,” Haley said in response to a question. “Jan. 6 was a terrible day and President Trump will have to answer for it.”

Haley, the only female candidate in the Republican race, characterized herself as “unapologetically pro-life,” citing her husband and children. But she said the goal for Republicans should be to “save as many babies as possible” rather than “demonize the issue.”

When asked what she would do with the 10 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, Haley did not skip a beat.

“You have to deport them,” she said. “And the reason you have to deport them is they’re cutting the line. … That is actually what will get them to stop coming, is when they do realize they get to the wall and they have to turn around and go back.”

Meanwhile, a New York Times report suggested that Indian American leaders in Iowa feel abandoned by Haley.

“Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, has a natural constituency in Iowa’s Indian American voters, but leaders say she has not reached out,” it said.

“With less than a week to go before the Iowa caucuses, leaders with some of the largest and most active Indian and South Asian American associations in the state say Nikki Haley has missed a major opportunity to run up her margins against her opponents: Engaging Indian American voters,” the Times said.

In interviews, former and current leaders of the Indo American PAC-IA, the Iowa Sikh Association and the Indo American Association of Iowa told the Times they began reaching out to the Haley campaign in the late spring and early summer — back when she was still polling in the single digits and was finding little traction in the state.

They had hopes of hosting her at their temples, town hall-style events or house parties, it said. But as of late Tuesday, no such appearances have materialized. The lack of outreach, several leaders were cited as saying, has been frustrating and alienating for some their membership.

“It really raises the question: Who are you willing to engage in the dialogue?” Prakash Kopparapu, chairman of the Indo American PAC-IA, which centers on encouraging the political participation and civic engagement of Indian Americans in Iowa was quoted as saying. “Do you want the support and do you support the engagement of Indian Americans across the board?”

The Times cited a spokeswoman for the Haley campaign, Olivia Perez-Cubas, as saying that “Nikki is working to lift up all Americans by making America strong and proud.”

Ramaswamy has made several appearances at the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Iowa, where many patrons have met his parents, and he is set to participate in an Indo American PAC-IA event this week, it said.

His wife, Apoorva, a surgeon and cancer researcher, has participated in at least three events at the homes of Indian American families and one at a Sikh Temple.

Himanshu Pathak, who has served as president of the Indo American Association of Iowa, was quoted as saying that Haley perhaps saw the electorate as too small to make a difference. That would be a mistake, he added.

“We are low in numbers — but not that low,” Pathak told the Times. “And we are increasing day by day.”