Trump hits Haley on border in New Hampshire ad

Former President Trump is going after GOP presidential rival Nikki Haley in a new ad in New Hampshire, seeking to blunt the former United Nations ambassador’s recent rise in polls in the early-voting state.

The 30-second ad works to lump the former South Carolina governor’s immigration policies with President Biden’s, contending both did not support Trump’s “visitor ban from terrorist nations” and his “border wall.” 

The ad, which portrays large groups of people at the border, asserts that Haley’s “weakness” puts the country in danger while Trump’s “strength” protects it. 

It’s the first time the Trump campaign has gone after Haley over the airwaves in New Hampshire ahead of the Granite State’s Jan. 23 primary.

While still trailing Trump, Haley has narrowed the gap in the state. In a recent poll conducted by American Research Group, Haley trailed the former president by 4 points, though other polls have shown a larger lead for Trump.

According to the Decision Desk HQ/The Hill polling index, Trump is at 43.7 percent in New Hampshire while Haley is at 26.7 percent.

Haley’s campaign pushed back on the attacks in the new Trump ad, arguing the former president is “clearly terrified” of her “momentum.” 

“Nikki passed one of the toughest anti-illegal immigration bills in the country back when Trump was still a Democrat,” Haley’s communications director Nachama Soloveichik said in the statement released Thursday.

Her campaign refuted the ad’s claim that Haley opposed Trump’s wall, citing her 2015 appearance at the National Press Club. 

“Don’t say you’re just going to build a wall,” Haley said. “Because a wall is not going to do it. You’ve got to have commitment of ground troops, equipment, money, all of that to bring it together. Then you’re being serious about tackling illegal immigration.” 

Similarly, the campaign said “Haley defended Trump’s revised travel ban as UN Ambassador multiple times because it targeted geographic areas with serious terrorist activity and not religious countries or individuals.”

Haley has defended banning certain individuals from entering the U.S., including at the fourth GOP, held last month.

“I don’t think that you have a straight-up Muslim ban as much as you look at the countries that have terrorist activities that want to hurt Americans. You can ban those people from those countries,” Haley said during the debate hosted by NewsNation. 

After the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15, Haley is angling for a strong showing in New Hampshire to break Trump’s grip on the primary, which polls have shown him leading consistently.

Haley previously pointed to an ad buy in Iowa by Trump’s primary supporting PAC attacking her to claim that the former president is “getting nervous” about her rise in support in early polls.

Updated: 12:29 p.m.