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Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley‘s campaign for the American presidency brought in a whopping $24 million during the fourth quarter of 2023 – more than twice what it raised during the previous quarter and more than three times what it took in the quarter before that.
Haley’s campaign also had an impressive $14.5 million on hand as of January 1, 2024, cementing her status as the No. 2 candidate in the GOP field behind former U.S. president Donald Trump.
That’s a “surge,” people … well, assuming we can trust the numbers. But based on Haley’s new deep-pocketed backers (see here and here), I think that’s a safe bet. Her campaign is officially “too big to fail,” it would seem.
“This is a two-person race between Nikki Haley and Donald Trump,” Haley’s campaign said in a statement accompanying the haul.
Is that true? It certainly could be …
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While money is indeed the lifeblood of politics – and a key indicator of momentum in a political race – it could also wind up being a double-edged sword for Haley, who has been dogged by allegations of cronyism for years. Increasingly, people are following the money and asking whether candidates who benefit personally from their positions are truly speaking for themselves – or on behalf of their self-interest.
Not surprisingly, Haley’s special interest-fueled ascent has the #NeverNikki crowd around Trump fired up as they vie to keep her not only from claiming the GOP nomination, but also from being considered as Trump’s potential 2024 running mate.
Two of the leading #NeverNikki voices – conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy – teamed up for an interview earlier this week in which they asserted Haley was the true deep state alternative to incumbent U.S. president Joe Biden. Not California governor Gavin Newsom … or former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama … but Haley, a “Republican.”
“If you’re smart, maybe you subvert the other party,” Carlson said. “Maybe you back a Republican candidate who’s actually a Democrat. Whose priorities are identical to yours. And of course they’ve found one: Her name is Nikki Haley. Nikki Haley is a liberal. She is all in on the four tenets of neoliberalism which are: White guilt, a finance-based economy, mass immigration and endless neocon wars.”
“Strip away all the outward characteristics, and Nikki Haley is identical in her priorities to Joe Biden and the people who back Joe Biden,” Carlson continued.
Ramaswamy concurred, referring to Haley as a “Trojan horse” and a “puppet” for the Democratic party – echoing criticisms he leveled at her during the most recent presidential debate in Alabama.
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“Where I thought this was going was Gavin Newsom or Michelle Obama or whichever other puppet they’re trotting out to replace Biden,” Ramaswamy said. “I think what’s become clear to me now (as) I’m in the thick of this GOP primary, is that the real puppet they’re trotting out isn’t Gavin Newsom, it isn’t Michelle Obama … it’s Nikki, actually.”
“I think the true puppet masters, the thing about them, is they’re fundamentally nonpartisan in nature,” Ramaswamy continued. “There’s a few things they care about: Keeping the foreign war machine humming is high on the list. Keeping the administrative state’s control of the United States is also high on the list. They’ve found a much more convenient puppet within the Republican Party itself. They have their core objectives, and Nikki makes for a far better Trojan horse to actually accomplish that objective than anybody else.”
Haley is set to square off next Wednesday (January 10, 2024) in a head-to-head debate against former Florida governor Ron DeSantis at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Trump was invited to attend the forum, but has declined to participate in any of the GOP undercard battles thus far.
DeSantis is clearly ready for the scrape …
“I think she’s had a very difficult time recently because she has been pumped up by liberal media, which I understand — she’s the liberal candidate running,” DeSantis told Fox News earlier this week.
Count on our media outlet to provide coverage of the Haley-DeSantis exchange as the GOP primary process moves inexorably toward a “First in the South” showdown here in the Palmetto State on February 24, 2024.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven (soon to be eight) children.
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22 comments
What a joke. Tucker Carlson, a Trump mouthpiece who admitted numerous times he lies to his audience for Donald Trump and a third-tier candidate who desperately wants to run as Trump’s vice president, calling someone else a puppet. You can’t make this up. It is as absurd as Trump saying the court can’t take away the right of the people to vote for him for President just because he tried to forcibly take away the right of the people to vote for Joe Biden for President.
All Republican puppets have a total lack of self-awareness.
The KKK Democrats are a THREAT to the USA, Constitution, Bill of RIghts, our Republic (not a democracy dummy)
hahaha, YOU’RE a joke, the WHOLE marxist left media is ALL for Democrats, 100% partisan for the lying leftists hate antifa thug crowd.
Tucker only lied because the lefty wimps dopes at Fox made him not talk about certain subjects, dummy.
By his own admission, Tucker Carlson is a liar. He does claim he was forced to lie. Just like Trump he lies when it benefits him or allows him to manipulate fools. To quote Mr. Carlson, “I lie. If I’m really cornered or something, I lie. I really try not to. I try never to lie on TV. I just don’t, you know, I don’t like lying. I certainly do it, you know, out of weakness or whatever.” Tucker Carlson
By the way, I can always tell the duped MAGAs when they say “we are a Republic not a Democracy”. They have no clue what that means. The truth is we are both. In the US we are a democratic republic our representatives are elected by the people by majority vote as opposed to a pure democracy where we would all vote on everything or a plutocratic republic
where the rich people select the representatives. Being a republic means nothing the way you use it. Russia is a republic, China is a republic, North Korea is a republic, Germany under Hitler was a republic, and Italy under Mussolini was a republic. Being a republic does not guarantee you anything if you are not a democratic republic. Consequently, we are a democracy and in fact we are the world’s oldest surviving democracy. We will lose that if Trump is ever President again. We will be just like Russia, China, and North Korea.
You may want to consider seeing a neurological specialist who treats serious cognitive decline. There are meds available now that can help.
“Tucker only lied because the lefty wimps dopes at Fox made him not talk about certain subjects”
Believe it or not, most corporate news media outlets don’t like getting sued for a billion dollars because some dope can’t help himself and crosses clearly defined legal lines.
Self control is a liberal hoax!
You conspiracy idiots are doing all the work for us!
By all means, continue….
Let me guess, Carlson and Ramaswamy also believe that Hitler died peacefully in Argentina, Elvis was recently sighted in rural Mississippi, the moon landing was faked, the Holocaust never happened, and that Donald Trump cares about anybody besides himself and exhibits personal qualities that you would want your son to emulate. And people actually take the drivel that these clowns spew seriously.
The saddest thing about people who think Donald Trump even gives a molecule of a crap about them is that by embracing the Trump cult those people are almost guaranteed to have pushed away any number of friends and family who actually did care about them.
There’s a real mind virus out there, but I’m afraid it isn’t as “woke” as these lost causes believe it is.
Those two losers deserve each other.
Will Folks dreams of being like them.
That’s today’s GQP for you.
Only democrats/liberals have commented. And they are obviously not South Carolinians!
To the brain dead cowards who call themselves Republicans, anyone who challenges Trump must be a plant or a Democrat. Maga is a cult and they will go after anyone who challenges their cult leader. They are determined to turn this nation into a dictatorship run by an immoral con man.
By the way I am a 8th generation South Carolinian. My family has been in SC since around 1760. I love my state and hate what Republicans have turned it into.
Both sides of my family are descended from Scots-Irish immigrants who settled in upstate SC in the 1750’s. Both ancestors fought in the Revolution for liberty against what they perceived as the tyranny of King George and Parliament. Now American liberty
Is again under attack, this time by wannabe King Donald and his sycophant Republican toadies. That is what is at stake in the 2024 election.
Nikki was a big part of my family no longer being South Carolinians. I make sure to let everyone know about what a joke Nikki was as governor. Thankfully, the GQP is now a cult of far, far right extremists and christofascists who won’t supply enough votes to a woman of color who took down the loser’s flag. And she’s got too much MAGA stank on her for independents or democrats to vote for her.
Good point, Becky!
Why isn’t there a single Republican from SC offering support for Nikki in the comments of a Republican political blog?
The never are any comments of support on any blog post about Nikki. Gee, I wonder why?
I’m very much anti-capitalist and very much live in this conservative-plagued state. The younger generations have more of us than you think, thanks to how badly capitalism continues to fail young people. Enjoy your dominance while you can. : )
Nikki is a liberal?
lol
We’ll see how liberal she is when she finally gets grilled about taking women’s rights away.
That shows you how extremely far right the MAGA GQP has become. A lifelong conservative, like Nikki, is called a liberal by her own party.
Dimrata Nikki haley didn’t know why the Civil War was fought, hahaha, (neither do most democrats)
Democrat ARE, were, always will be the kkk, nazi, fascist party of hate and lies, the pary of slavery Jim Crow laws, anti civil rights.
(until they needed the votes ) to keep power
Really? Then why do only Republicans oppose removing Confederate monuments?
Dimrata Nikki haley didn’t know why the Civil War was fought, hahaha, (neither do most democrats)
Democrat ARE, were, always will be the kkk, nazi, fascist party of hate and lies, the pary of slavery Jim Crow laws, anti civil rights.
(until they needed the votes ) to keep power
She had an easy out, she could have just referred to the document South Carolina produced outlining reasons why it was leaving and left it at that, letting actual historical documents speak for themselves. Then she could have admitted slavery was a monumentally huge reason without saying it out loud.
You really, really have to wonder what kind of party you are running in if saying “slavery was a reason for the Civil War” hurts you.
Trikki Nikki’s answer to the slavery question at the N.H. town hall was pure Koch Bros. propaganda. She could just as well have been quoting the late David Koch from his unsuccessful run for Libertarian VP. She’s got to spout that line if she wants to keep getting their money.
Nikki has black friends? For crying out loud her daughter married an african american. That is why she chose not to mention slavery. It was all about his and her pensions until Donaldus appointed her. The political cash cows then sprayed her with speaking fees and book deal advances. Now This. What can not be ignored, and you all know her circles and inner circles, is there are only casual acquaintances and perhaps a rare working relationships buoying her choices for the cabinet and some 3000 executive branch appointments. She would appoint the likes of David Beasley, Trey Gowdy, Tim Scott, Mark Sanford, Mick Mulvaney and a whole host of useless turds from South Carolina. McMaster as an Ambassador? Christie? Hutchison? Not one, not one Donaldus appointment from South Carolina worked out. The thought of her filling the executive branch with Bush rejects and South Carolina retards is too much to fathom. She must be stopped.