Haley Steps Up Her Jabs at Trump

Nikki Haley has said the country "won't survive" another four years with Donald Trump in his old job. Yet she's refused to rule out becoming his running mate. It's all a bit wishy-washy, which has been a mark of her attitude toward Trump for years (she opposed his 2016 presidential bid, then became his ambassador to the UN) as well as of her 2024 campaign. The former South Carolina governor has been "walking a fine line when it comes to [the Republican frontrunner], alternating between opposing and praising him as she aims to appeal to both 'Never Trump' Republicans and those who are open to the idea of voting for him again," reports Politico. Now, with just weeks until the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, she appears to be "ratcheting up her attacks on her one-time boss."

With Haley gaining in polls out of New Hampshire, the Trump campaign has begun targeting her in ads, per NBC News. Last month, a pro-Trump super PAC put out an ad dubbing her "high tax Haley" and accusing her of flip-flopping on support for a gas tax as South Carolina governor. "I have seen the commercials you see. I've seen the little temper tantrums that he's thrown," Haley told a crowd in Londonderry, New Hampshire, on Wednesday, per Politico. "There's not one bit of it that's truthful." Haley did propose a gas-tax increase along with an income-tax cut, which was never approved, but promised to veto a gas-tax increase on its own. "If he wants to talk about raising taxes," Haley said of Trump, "in 2018 he proposed on all of us a 25-cent gas-tax increase."

It was the fourth time in two days Haley had accused Trump and his allies of lying about her. She also criticized Trump's handling of the economy as president. "We had $8 trillion dollars in debt just in four years," she said. "Our kids will never forgive us for that." The change in rhetoric comes at a crucial time for Haley and fellow GOP hopeful Ron DeSantis, who need to log "a win or a very strong second that gives them the momentum to continue on beyond Iowa and New Hampshire," Republican strategist Jim Merrill tells the Hill. Yet Haley's attacks on Trump are mild compared with those of GOP candidate Chris Christie. The reason, according to Christie: Haley doesn't want to beat Trump. "If lightning struck her tomorrow, and she got the [VP] nomination, she'd take it," he said Wednesday on the View, per the New York Post. (More Nikki Haley stories.)