Haley says ‘it’s not the party … it’s the political elite’ supporting Trump

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley sought to distinguish those rallying around former President Trump on Tuesday, arguing it is not the Republican Party, but rather the “political elite” who support the former president.

“I think it’s not the party uniting around President Trump, it’s the political elite that are uniting around President Trump,” Haley told reporters in Hampton, N.H. “And the political elite has never been with me my entire career because I’ve always fought the political elite.”

Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, pointed to her calls for requiring politicians to take mental competency tests and requiring term limits, as well as her tendency to call out “wasteful spending” on both sides of the aisle.

“I spite the political class. Donald Trump has the political class surrounding him,” Haley said. “That’s not what Americans want. The political class has gotten us in this mess, we need a normal, real person to get us out of this mess.”

The Granite State kicked off its first-in-the-nation primary Tuesday, in which Haley seeks to beat the odds as Trump’s main challenger in the GOP primary.

Her campaign team has signaled it plans to continue toward South Carolina — the former governor’s home state — even if she lands a second-place finish in New Hampshire.

Haley trails Trump by 13.9 points before the Granite State primary, according to a polling index by The Hill and Decision Desk HQ.

Speaking with reporters Monday, Haley dismissed calls for her to drop out of the race and argued those appeals came from the “political elite” and the media.

The pro-Haley PAC Stand For America (SFA) released a memo Monday underscoring the argument that the news media and political class are underestimating the last real GOP opponent to Trump.

“This race is FAR from over, but you wouldn’t know that if you turned the channel to Fox News or CNN. Despite a constant drumbeat of proclaiming their so-called hate of Donald Trump, the media cannot get enough of him,” the memo read. 

“Between the wall-to-wall coverage of everything he does and their overzealousness to call the 2024 race for the GOP over after the Iowa Caucus — despite Trump’s mediocre night (by an incumbent’s standards) amid low turnout for Iowans, it’s clear Washington and New York has a vested interest in wanting to crown Trump the GOP’s candidate,” the memo continued.