Nikki Haley has stepped up her attacks on Donald Trump, mocking him for throwing a “tantrum” over her candidacy and positioning herself as the only alternative to the former president.
“We are focused on Trump. That is the main focus,” she said Thursday morning at an event in New Hampshire.
“I’ve said it time and time again: rightly or wrongly, chaos and drama follow him,” she said. ‘My style is different. No revenge, no drama, no revenge.”
She revealed her new, combative tone as polls show her steadily rising in the country’s first primaries. Her campaign claims Trump is afraid. But Haley’s candidacy hinges on a strong finish in New Hampshire, including a close second-place finish.
“I’ve said it time and time again: rightly or wrongly, chaos and drama follow him,” Nikki Haley said of Donald Trump. ‘My style is different. No revenge, no drama, no revenge.”
‘He’s panicking. That’s why he’s attacking Nikki,” New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, a Republican who has endorsed Haley, said of Trump.
“He knows it’s a two-man race. He’s the one who won’t be on the debate stage. He’s the one nipping at his heels right now,” Sununu added. “He has no strategy other than to keep flying, doing his little country club, style.”
He also blasted Trump for not making the rounds in the state. Traditionally, voters in New Hampshire enjoy shaking hands with candidates, hearing from them at small events and getting a chance to question them.
‘He’s not here. He takes people for granted. He flies in and out,” Sununu said of Trump. “That’s a losing strategy.”
But Trump leads Haley by 14 points in the Polling average from RealClearPolitics of New Hampshire. However, the polls also show that Haley is on an upward trend: over the past two months she has steadily risen from 20% to 38%.
Nikki Haley campaigned with New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu at the Robie’s Country store in Hooksett, NH
Nikki Haley signs an autograph for a young fan
On Thursday, Haley took questions from voters and the media after limiting question-and-answer sessions after declining a question about the origins of the Civil War.
But with five days before New Hampshire voters go to the polls, she has ramped up her schedule in the state, spending nearly an hour at each event talking to voters and taking selfies.
She did two public events, one at a packed community center and the other at a local market that is traditionally a stop for presidential candidates. Both stops were full of people. The community center was standing room only and there was a line waiting to get into the market.
Trump, meanwhile, is going after Haley, who was his ambassador to the United Nations.
“I don’t know if she’s a Democrat, but she’s very close. She is way too close for you,” the former president told voters at a rally in Portsmouth on Wednesday evening.
His campaign is also hitting her hard with ads across the state.
Haley finished a disappointing third in the Iowa caucuses on Monday, but polls show she could do much better in New Hampshire, where she has devoted a lot of time and attention. Trump won Iowa by 30 points.
Independent voters play an outsized share of the state and she has focused her appeal on them.
Nikki Haley spent about an hour at each event, talking to voters and taking selfies
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley met (pictured) Steven Schimmel, 40, and his daughter Bianca Schimmel, 1, at a campaign event with New Hampshire Governor Sununu at the Alpine Grove Event Center in Hollis, New Hampshire
Polls show Nikki Haley is on the rise in New Hampshire and she needs a strong finish in the state to keep her candidacy alive
Some of her biggest applause lines on Thursday morning came when she told voters she is the best alternative to Trump and President Joe Biden.
“More of the same is not just Joe Biden. More of the same is Donald Trump,” she said.
“The majority of Americans do not want two octogenarians competing for the presidency,” she added.
It was an argument she repeated as she campaigned across the state on Thursday.
“More of the same is not just Joe Biden. More of the same are Joe Biden and Donald Trump. 70% of Americans do not want a rematch between Biden and Trump. The majority of Americans disapprove of Biden and Trump,” she told voters at the Robie’s Country store outside Manchester.
“Everyone knows that Biden and Trump have trillions of dollars in debt that our children will never forgive. We know that Biden and Trump are involved in investigations and distractions,” she added.
Polls show that a significant number of voters would like an alternative candidate to Trump and Biden, while most Americans do not want to see a repeat of the 2020 election.
One of those voters was Steven Schimmel, who drove an hour from Massachusetts with his one-year-old daughter Bianca to see Haley.
“If it’s Nikki Haley versus Biden, I’m voting for Haley,” he told DailyMail.com. “If it’s Trump versus Biden, I’ll vote for Biden.”
He said he voted for Biden in 2020 because “it was as much a vote against Trump as for anything else.”
But he also acknowledged the problem facing Haley’s campaign: In the Republican Party primaries, it will be difficult to defeat Trump’s dedicated MAGA army and clinch the nomination. Polls show him with a double-digit lead.
“Rising to the top nationally, I think it’s difficult within the Republican Party in a way that appeals to moderates,” he said.
Nikki Haley says hello to Bianca Schimmel, 1, and her father Stephen
Donald Trump has gone on the attack against Nikki Haley
Haley is betting her candidacy on appealing to such a group and hopes a strong finish in New Hampshire – including a close second place – will propel her to the next competition, which will take place in her home state of South Carolina.
However, Trump has a huge lead in the state and the support of powerful politicians there, including the governor.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who hasn’t spent much time campaigning in New Hampshire, will be there this weekend to try to poke Haley.
She canceled his trip: ‘He’s closer to zero than me. I mean, he’s invisible.’