Ron DeSantis criticizes Nikki Haley as ‘phony’ in final days before Iowa caucuses

Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) attacked former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, his fiercest 2024 rival in the primary, as “phony” in an interview released on Thursday.

“I’m just thinking to myself, you know, ‘She’s phony.’ You know, she doesn’t have a core set of convictions,” DeSantis told NBC News’s Dasha Burns and the Des Moines Register‘s Brianne Pfannenstiel in a joint interview before the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses.

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The Florida governor was referring to a recent gaffe from Haley in which she misidentified Iowa Hawkeyes basketball player Caitlin Clark as “Caitlin Collins.”

“She’s coming in here. She’s trying to be relatable but just doesn’t get Iowa, and I think that’s becoming more and more apparent,” DeSantis continued. “Here’s the thing: Her quote was media-driven. There’s not a lot of grassroots energy. You can talk to all these activists here. They’re not seeing it.”

The polls, however, do not back up DeSantis’s claims. A RealClearPolitics poll average showed Haley at 11%, surpassing DeSantis at 10.9% for second place behind former President Donald Trump at 62.7%.

The RealClearPolitics Iowa poll average does show DeSantis at 18.6%, beating Haley at 16.1%, with Trump far ahead at 51.3%. However, in mid-July, DeSantis was polling much closer to Trump, 47.7% to 23.7%, while Haley was polling at a mere 4%, a sign of how much she has risen in less than six months while the governor has seen his support decline.

When asked during the joint interview if he could admit Haley was rising, DeSantis repeatedly dodged answering. “I’ve had $40 million spent against me. That’s more than all the other Republicans combined,” DeSantis first responded. “That’s more than has been spent in this election cycle, combined with Biden and Trump, and they’ve come after me, so that shows you that they view me as a threat.”

More than $40.2 million has been spent from independent expenditures negatively attacking DeSantis, while only $19.8 million has been spent negatively attacking Trump, and $15.8 million was spent attacking Haley, according to data compiled by Rob Pyers, research director at California Target Book.

DeSantis was asked again to comment on his challenges to remain the sole viable challenger to Trump. He again declined to admit Haley has gained on him.

“I mean, first of all, Trump has always been leading in the race. I mean, he’s the former president,” DeSantis said. “We are the top. They wouldn’t be spending that money if we weren’t the top. I’m the only one that has a chance to beat Trump and win the general election. Nikki Haley can’t get conservative voters. She’s playing for voters who are not even core Republicans.”

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The governor also sought to once again pressure Haley over whether she would accept Trump’s offer to be his running mate if he were to win the nomination. “She’s the darling of the Never Trumpers. And yet when she’s asked, ‘OK, will you just categorically put this to bed and say you will not accept the vice presidential nomination?’ She will not answer that question,” DeSantis said.

Haley’s campaign previously told the Washington Examiner that “Nikki has been very clear from day one, she doesn’t play for second.”