#DeSantis exacerbates attacks on GOP rival with ‘Real Nikki Haley’ website

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) escalated his attacks on 2024 GOP presidential rival former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) with the launch of the “The Real Nikki Haley” website.

“Nikki Haley is not the conservative she pretends to be, so the Ron DeSantis for President campaign is launching a new microsite today shining a light on the real Nikki Haley.” DeSantis’ campaign said in a press release Friday. “The site will allow Republican primary voters to see for themselves that Haley has supported every liberal cause under the sun.” 

The website attacks the former South Carolina governor by alleging she is “pro-Hillary Clinton,” “pro-China and cozy with the Chinese Communist Party,” “anti-free speech,” among other accusations targeted at Haley that appear to try and turn right-wing voters away from her. 

Haley has been recently trying to overtake her rival from the Sunshine State in Iowa before the caucus begins there in January. 

A recent Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa poll found Haley and DeSantis tied in the Hawkeye State, with both at 16 percent among likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers.

DeSantis and his campaign have been taking recent swings at Haley. On Tuesday, he went after her for suggesting an idea of verification of identity for all social media users in a Fox News interview.

“You know who were anonymous writers back in the day? Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison when they wrote the Federalist Papers,” DeSantis wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “They were not ‘national security threats,’ nor are the many conservative Americans across the country who exercise their Constitutional right to voice their opinions without fear of being harassed or canceled by the school they go to or the company they work for.”