Rising Haley decries Trump’s “pathetic” insults
Indian American Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley says former President Donald Trump has made her case for her with his campaign’s “pathetic” attempt to demean her by sending a birdcage and bird food to her hotel room.
This happened a day after her former boss turned rival called her “birdbrain,” complained Haley, first Indian American to serve in a US presidential cabinet as US ambassador to UN, Sunday, basking in the fresh momentum gained by her after last week’ party debate.
In a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Haley posted a photo of a birdcage with a large bag of food, with a sign that said, “From: Trump Campaign.”
READ: Nikki Haley beats Joe Biden by 19 points among independents: poll (September 29, 2023)
“After a day of campaigning, this is the message waiting for me at my hotel room… #PrettyPatheticTryAgain #YouJustMadeMyCaseForMe,” Haley said in her post.
The post comes as Trump, the front-runner in the Republican primary campaign, has shifted his focus to target the former South Carolina governor, who has risen in the presidential field, aided by her strong performance in both party debates, according to the Hill.
Trump nicknamed Haley “birdbrain” in a post Friday, writing of Haley: “’I will never run against our great President,’ she said, ‘he has done an outstanding job.’ To which I responded, ‘How nice of you to say, Nikki,’ knowing full well that her words mean nothing. She even came to Mar-a-Lago with her family, ‘bearing gifts.’ Anyway, Birdbrain doesn’t have the TALENT or TEMPERAMENT to do the job. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Nikki Haley steals the show at Republican presidential debate (September 28, 2023)
On Friday, Haley responded to the attack in a post on X, suggesting it showed her campaign’s momentum. “Love this. It means we are in 2nd and moving up fast. Bring it!” she said.
Haley’s Wednesday night performance in Simi Valley, California, was lauded by Republicans after she targeted several of her contenders, including Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
“Some Republicans see Trump’s decision to go after Haley as a nod to the fact she’s being viewed as a serious threat while acknowledging she still needs to narrow the gap against DeSantis in some polling,” according to the Hill.
“I think she’s still got a ways to go on the polling to pass DeSantis. He still has a pretty relatively decent lead,” Republican strategist Keith Naughton was quoted as saying.
Four Indian Americans are running for president. Could anyone have imagined two decades ago? (August 30, 2023)
“The fact that Trump started attacking Haley is an indication that he thinks that she’s a more serious contender. I mean, that’s kind of your gauge about, I think, where people in the Republican Party could think the race is,” he added.
While RealClearPolitics’s polling averages of surveys in New Hampshire and South Carolina have Haley placed in second behind Trump, its average of Iowa surveys has her in third behind Trump and DeSantis.
Haley, DeSantis and all the other Republican presidential candidates trail Trump by double digits in polling averages of all three early states, underscoring the long-standing problem they face in their effort to claim the GOP nomination, the Hill noted. But Haley’s campaign believes they can channel her Wednesday night performance to further propel her into the 2024 GOP primary.
Nikki Haley says she’s running against Kamala Harris(September 20, 2023)
“Nikki is the candidate with momentum. Debates are an opportunity for millions of Americans to meet Nikki, and they like what they hear,” Haley campaign spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas, was quoted as saying.
“She had another winning debate performance and we’re turning that into momentum on the ground,” Perez-Cubas noted and pointed to Haley’s showing in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
