DeSantis says Haley can’t win ‘core Republicans’ and ‘conservatives’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said presidential primary opponent Nikki Haley will not win over enough “core Republicans” and “conservatives” to clinch the GOP nomination. 

DeSantis, during a CNN town hall in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, accused Haley of relying on Democrats changing their registration on the day of the Iowa caucuses to back her, saying she does not have enough support from key voters of the Republican Party.

“So she was relying on her support for a lot of these Democrats changing their registration on the day of the caucus. And here’s the thing — in Florida, I won a lot more Democrats than previous governors have been able to do,” DeSantis said.

“I think it’s great in a general election to build a big tent, but to win a Republican primary, you can’t rely on Democrats coming in and changing their registration. You got to be able to win core Republicans. You got to be able to win conservatives, and she cannot not do that,” he added. 

DeSantis secured the second-place spot in Iowa with about 21 percent of the vote Monday, still significantly trailing former President Trump, who garnered 51 percent to win the caucuses. Haley, who was polling ahead of the Florida governor in the days leading up to the caucus, came in third place with about 19 percent of the vote.

He also criticized Haley for saying that Iowa would make the GOP primary a two-person race and emphasized his second-place finish over her. 

“She said — and her campaign said — that there’s only two tickets out of Iowa. That the top two out of Iowa would be viable, and that she would finish at least second, and then that would be the race,” he said. 

“Well, guess what happened? Even though she spent 100 percent of her money attacking me and not one red cent attacking Donald Trump … I got in second and she did not, and that’s just the reality,” he said.

The Hill has reached out to Haley’s campaign for comment.