GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley ruffled the feathers of Iowa voters during a campaign event in New Hampshire Wednesday when she told N.H. Republicans, she’s counting on them to “correct” the results of the upcoming Iowa caucuses.
“We have an opportunity to get this right. And I know we’ll get it right, and I trust you. I trust every single one of you. You know how to do this. You know Iowa starts it. You know that you correct it,” she said as the New Hampshire voters laughed and applauded in approval. “And then my sweet state of South Carolina brings it home. That’s what we do,” she added to more laughter and applause.
New Hampshire Nikki supporters and Nikki literally laughing and mocking Iowa voters. The audio and visual is just brutal for her.
— HJoseph (Don’t Tread On Florida) (@DontShedOnMe_1) January 4, 2024
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), who has endorsed Republican contender Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, slammed Haley’s comments in a post on X.
“I trust Iowans to make their own decisions. No ‘corrections’ needed!” Reynolds wrote.
I trust Iowans to make their own decisions. No “corrections” needed!
— Kim Reynolds (@KimReynoldsIA) January 4, 2024
Iowa talk show host Steve Deace saw Haley’s viral moment as an opportunity for DeSantis. “I’d blanket the state with this as an ad the final week, and then watch Nikki finish in single digits,” Deace quipped on X.
Bob Vander Plaats, CEO of The FAMiLY Leader, who has endorsed DeSantis, called Haley’s comments “very telling regarding her status in Iowa.”
“This admission of getting beat in the Hawkeye state gives Chrystal clear clarity and renewed conviction to Iowans as they Caucus for @RonDeSantis on January 15,” Vander Plaats wrote on X.
Another DeSantis backer, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), also roasted Haley on X. “Does she think that people in Iowa won’t hear what she says about them in New Hampshire?” he asked.
DeSantis himself told the Des Moines Register: “I’m just thinking to myself, she’s phony, you know, she doesn’t have a core set of convictions.” He added, “She’s coming in here, she’s trying to trying to be relatable but just doesn’t get Iowa. I think that’s becoming more and more apparent.”
The DeSantis Camp drew attention on X to a local Iowa News station’s report on Haley’s remarks. “Local Iowa news is already covering Nikki Haley insulting every Iowa caucus goer,” said “DeSantis War Room.”
“Nikki Haley’s finding herself in hot water,” the Local5 ABC reporter said.
“Nikki Haley’s finding herself in hot water.”
WATCH: Local Iowa news is already covering Nikki Haley insulting every Iowa caucus goer. pic.twitter.com/IsumPrOEax
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) January 4, 2024
DeSantis and Haley are currently polling neck and neck in Iowa, “polling at an average of 18 percent and 17.1 percent, respectively,” according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling average.
Haley has been focusing much of her campaigning in New Hampshire, hoping to pull off an upset in the state, where she has the endorsement of Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.
In New Hampshire, Haley trails Trump by 17 points with 26.7 percent of support in the state’s polling average, followed by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 11 percent and DeSantis with 8.3 percent, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.
The first in the nation Iowa caucuses will take place on Tuesday, January 15, the New Hampshire primary is scheduled for Tuesday, January 23, and South Carolina is set for February 24. Haley has climbed in polls in New Hampshire, and a strong performance in that primary could give her a boost in her home state’s primary.
Haley is set to debate fellow Republican contender Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Iowa on Jan. 10. Other candidates who have appeared in previous debates, including entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, did not meet CNN’s qualification requirements.
Former president Donald Trump, who is soaring well above everyone else in the polls, has refused to debate his Republican rivals and will instead hold a town hall on the same day in Iowa to be hosted by Fox News.