Nikki Haley: America needs a new generational leader
2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley joins ‘America Reports’ to discuss her pledge to pardon former President Donald Trump, her border promises and her response to comparisons to Hillary Clinton.
PROGRAMMING ALERT: Watch the Fox News town hall with former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley LIVE tonight at 6pm ET.
DES MOINES, IA. -With one week until the Iowa caucuses begin the Republican presidential nominating calendar, Nikki Haley will participate in a Fox News town hall as her numbers move in the right direction.
“Momentum is building, Nikki’s message is resonating, and Americans are uniting en masse behind our movement,” the Republican White House candidate’s campaign wrote in an email to supporters on Monday.
And Haley, a former two-term governor of South Carolina who later served as ambassador to the United Nations during former President Donald Trump’s administration, touted in an interview with Fox News last weekend that “we can feel the momentum on the ground. We can feel the emotion.”
Haley, once a strong shot at the nomination, has soared in recent months, thanks in part to her well-regarded performances in the first three Republican presidential primary debates.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS: THERE IS PRESSURE FOR TRUMP, DESANTIS AND HALEY TO PERFORM IN THE IOWA CAUCUSES
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks with a voter during a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., January 5, 2024. REUTERS/Rachel Mummey (REUTERS/Rachel Mummey)
Over the past month, Haley has caught Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the latest Iowa polls and national polls, a distant second behind Trump, who remains the front-runner for the nomination as he enters his third Back-to-back White House. run.
And Haley moved into second place and narrowed the gap with Trump in New Hampshire, which is holding the first primary and voting second, just eight days behind Iowa. Popular Gov. Chris Sununu, who endorsed her last month, is helping boost to Haley in New Hampshire, where independent voters play a crucial role in the state’s historic primary.
CHRISTIE RAISES THE VOLUME ON HALEY AS HE CLOSES THE GAP WITH TRUMP
But with her rise in the polls comes greater scrutiny of Haley and more attacks from her rivals, as she answers questions Monday night at a Fox News town hall in Des Moines from “Special Report” lead political host Bret Baier. and “The Story” executive editor and host Martha MacCallum. The one-hour town hall begins at 6 pm ET and will be held in front of a live audience.
Haley’s failure to mention slavery when answering a question late last month about the Civil War caucuses quickly went viral and provided instant ammunition to her Republican presidential competitors. So did his comments last weekend that personalities were being “switched” from Iowa to New Hampshire and last week that New Hampshire voters were “correcting” the results of the Iowa caucuses.
DeSantis, who is betting much of his campaign on a good result in Iowa, accused Thursday in a local radio interview in the Hawkeye state that Haley was “incredibly disrespectful to Iowans by saying that somehow their votes need be corrected.”
And another rival, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is running for the White House for the second time, accused Haley of acting “immature.”
Haley, during a CNN town hall last week in Iowa, said her comment was intended as a joke, noting that “we’ve done over 150 town halls. You gotta have fun too.”
FIRST ON FOX: HALEY’S FUNDRAISING SOARS OVER THE LAST THREE MONTHS
Christie and DeSantis have also taken aim at Haley for not being vocal enough in her criticism of Trump, criticizing her for not categorically saying that she would not agree, if asked, to be the former president’s running mate.
Meanwhile, Trump, his campaign and an aligned super PAC have increasingly targeted Haley in recent weeks.
Jimmy Centers, a longtime Iowa-based Republican consultant, noted that the Trump campaign and DeSantis — through their aligned super PAC — “have built organizational juggernauts.”
“Ambassador Haley has a message that is resonating and has built momentum. Now is the campaign organization’s time to shine,” emphasized Centers, who served as communications director for former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and current Gov. Kim Reynolds. .
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While Haley has been touring Iowa, holding town halls and reaching out to voters, Monday’s town hall with Fox News will give her access to a broader audience, both in the Hawkeye State and across the country.
DeSantis joins Fox News on Tuesday for a similar town hall, and Trump will take questions from Baier and Macullum on Wednesday.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 election campaign, exclusive interviews and more in our Fox News Digital Election Center.
